Sophomore Amalie Fackenthal placed first in two events at the last swim meet of the season at Tokay High School on May 14.
Fackenthal swam a 49.26-second 100-yard freestyle and a 22.75-second 50-yard free, breaking the section and her own record for the 50-free.
“The coolest part about beating my time was getting the best time (in the race),” Fackenthal said.
“I looked at my coach and hugged someone near me when I saw that I broke my record on the scoreboard.”
However, Fackenthal said she won’t be going to states on May 21 because it will interfere with training for her U.S. Swim Team.
Freshman Joe Zales placed fifth in the 500-yard freestyle.
The only freshman in his race, Zales swam a 4:43.10-second 500-free, two seconds slower than his preliminary time from May 13.
Zales said he was intimidated by the surprisingly large size of the meet (over 100 northern California schools) and having to swim varsity (due to a data entry error).
“When I first heard I had to swim varsity, I was pretty upset,” Zales said.
Zales is being considered for states, but, like Fackenthal, he won’t be attending because of a conflict with his club swimming team.
—By Katia Dahmani
