The Lions swim team kicked off the season Saturday, August 27 at the Blockhouse Creek Apache Pool. The team was divided into two competing groups, red and blue, who swam the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, 100 meter individual medley, 100 meter butterfly, the 200 meter freestyle relay, 100 meter backstroke, 50 meter backstroke, 100 meter broad stroke, 100 meter freestyle, and the 50 meter freestyle.

The red and blue teams ended up finishing the meet in a tie, and had a race between team captains the following monday morning. Senior Tanja Milanovic was captain of the red Team, and senior Tanner Hartwick was captain of the blue Team. Tanner beat Tanja to the finish line, resulting in a win for his team.

“I think we’re going to do really well this year,” sophomore Mara Sherry said. “We definitely gained some more competitive swimmers this year and they’re going to make a big impact on the team.”

On the red team were seniors Maja Milanovic, Ricardo ‘Richi’ Vargas, and Maddie Phillips. Also on the team were juniors Brian Nguyen and Matt Whieldon, as well as sophomores Victor Barrios and Mara Sherry, and freshmen Alex Siegler, Brelyn Cary, Jorge Moscoso Martinez, and Lisa Xu.

“[This] was a good chance to get up and race again,” Milanovic said. “Tanner and I picked the teams, and made sure they were even so we could have some healthy competition. This made me excited to see a preview of our teams potential.”

On the blue team were seniors Audrey Nieusma, and Mason Miller, as well as juniors Sarah Cano, Ian Schoeplein, and Leon Ward, sophomore Adryana Frederick, and freshmen Marlene Beasley, Isaak ‘Ike’ Porter, and Lauren Toops.

“I think the season will show a great progression in skill and speed for everyone,” Schoeplein said. “The meet dusted off our competitive minds and is shaping us to do great things in the meets coming up.” The next meet will be on September 10 at Blockhouse Creek Apache Pool against both Cedar Park and Meridian starting at 7 a.m.