By Kazi Nassif

The swimming season came to an end at regionals late last month, but the season marked significant progress for the program, with 18 swimmers advancing to regionals.

Senior Jose Ramirez said this season was particularly memorable because of the team’s success and camaraderie.

“I think the team did great,” Ramirez said. “We won most of our meets, and I got to make new friends with the younger swimmers.”

Plese said that even with the regional realignments, the team was able to perform at a high level this season.

“This is the first year that we were put in the same region as schools in Plano, Allen, and Southlake,” Plese said. “These schools have junior national and national level swimmers, making the competition very difficult. However, we did have most of our prelim swimmers advance to finals and drop their times.”

Plese was recruited to swim for the University of Maine, where he also earned an academic scholarship.

“I’m very excited that I have the opportunity to continue my swimming career at the University of Maine,” Plese said. “I am really looking forward to being an asset to the team and contributing in any way that they need.”

Plese said that he was disappointed with his early season performances, but improved throughout the season.

“I was so focused on college applications and recruiting, so it was hard to fully devote my time to training in and out of the pool,” Plese said. “Those races motivated me to train harder towards the end of the season as championships were approaching, and I managed to drop a significant amount of time between districts and regionals.”

Ramirez said that his experience on the swim team over the past four years has been something he’ll keep with him for the rest of his life.

“I think that the ‘swim’ experience is something that I will never forget,” Ramirez said. “The laser focus I get when I hit the water is really cool, and it’s like it’s just me and the water. Overall, I’ve loved these last four years, and am thankful for the experiences that I’ve had.”