Issaquah Eagles come in third place with 12 points at the ISD (Issaquah School District) and SV (Snow Valley) Invitational.  As Issaquah Boys SWIVE (Swim and Dive) season comes to a close, swimmers are excited for their last shot at making it to KingCoat the Issaquah/Sno Valley Invite meet. Senior Ian Hansen being one of these talented athletes to do so.  Swimmers and coaches are looking forward to KingCoand districts. As Head Coach Laura Halter says, “I think that we will do quite well in KingCo, districts, and state; our biggest competitor (Skyline) for all three meets but I think we will be doing very well.” With only three meets left, swimmers reflect on their overall season as not everyone participates in these extremely selective meets. Events outside of meets also garner lots of excitement and fun. Senior Alex Hong adds, “The pasta feeds are when the team comes together before the meet and it’s a great bonding experience, and we have a lot of fun doing it.” Swimmers enjoy these bonding experiences together as they celebrate the sendoff of seniors such as Hong. This season has proved to be another year of hard work, compassion, and teamwork from everyone on the boys SWIVE team.

The air is buzzing as swimmers get ready for the events that await them. After few heats junior Evan Chen says, “doing back-to-back events are tiring which can result in bad times” but overall, Chen feels that he is “pushing himself a lot to achieve better times.” Perserverance is a huge motto of the team because without this goal, Issaquah’s swimmers may never dream of even receiving the chance to participate in Kingco or state. As more swimmer’s race the team never stops chanting and laughing with their own team and the three others there. This compassion and respect for their competitors also demonstrate just how respectful and confident Issaquah’s swim and dive team prove to be. Beeping, splashes, and talking fill the air garnering an atmosphere of excitement. This more laid-back meet picked up the pace as swimmers put all their effort in to try and shave off just a few seconds to reach Kingco. Parents lovingly cheer their kids on, some with sadness as this may be their kids’ last meeting at Issaquah until they fly off to college. Overall, this meet is an exciting one, not just for the sport itself, but for the love that every person in this arena has.

This meet did not have diving, so swimmers had to get ready for races immediately. The Eagles in the first race had a great relay coming in second with a time of two minutes and 10 seconds scoring them four points right off the bat. For a few heats and events Issaquah did not score any points until the ninth event another relay with swimmers Logan Maker, Warren Ray, Ian Hansen, and Tyler Yang great relay scoring them another two points. Everyone was cheering and yelling, and the steaming room was filled with shouts whenever they came out for a gasp of air. Next event was the Men’s 100-meter backstroke with congratulations to senior Ian Hansen for scoring six points for Issaquah and qualifying for KingCo! At the time, most spectators had not known that he qualified, but timers and swimmers were happy that Hansen would swim another meet for his senior year.

Although there was a disappointing loss at the meet, Eagles and coaches still appreciate their improvement this season overall. Coach Laura says that “teams’ cohesiveness for one, another one is ability to step up during the champ’s season.” Eagles show this in the pool and out with captains like Hong who “group the team up and organize cheers.” Without the teamwork of swimmers and captains, they would not have been able to make it through the whole year persevering towards districts and KingCo. Congratulations, Eagles, on almost making it through another hard year faced with our competitors!