Swim Team Excels at Championships
On Wednesday, Berkeley Hall swimmers traveled to Calabasas Tennis and Swim Club for the 2014 San Fernando Valley Swim Championship meet. It was a beautiful day for a meet and our swimmers were ready to race. The meet started off with a solid fourth place finish by the Girls 100 Medley Relay team of Julia I., Arianna L., Nadia M., and Lauren C. Berkeley Hall hoped to win the Boys 100 Medley Relay but had to get past first-seeded Viewpoint . . . and it did! The team of ...
Pranaya S., Thomas M., David V., and Blaine B. dropped four and a half seconds to beat Viewpoint convincingly. What a win! After that, swimmer after swimmer raced to personal best times and, in many cases, to Top 8 finishes. Since the top 8 swimmers in each event scored points for the team, this was significant. Pranaya S. handily won the 100 Individual Medley while Nadia M. swam to a 6th place finish, competing in the 100 IM for her first time ever. In the 25 Free, Mark L. got off to a quick start and touched 4th out of 52 swimmers, while first-year swimmer Blaine B. was 6th. Lauren C. was 4th out of 52 swimmers for the girls, and Julia I. touched out a Curtis swimmer for 8th. Daniel K. dropped over three seconds to place 3rd in a fast 100 Free event. Perhaps the most dominant event for the Bobcats was the Boys 25 Breaststroke, in which BHS swimmers placed 1st (Pranaya), 2nd (Thomas M.), and 7th (first-year swimmer Baron L.S.). Arianna L. placed 4th in the 25 Breaststroke for the girls.
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With the meet halfway finished, swimmers refused to get tired and continued to race aggressively. David V. (2nd) nearly touched out Viewpoint’s top freestyler while dropping over a second and a half in the 50, while Thomas dropped a remarkable 3 seconds to place 5th. Blaine finished in 6th. Daniel K. and Ben K. placed 2nd and 5th respectively in the 25 backstroke. The 25 fly was another strong event for the Bobcats, with David winning by over a second and Mark dropping two full seconds to touch out a Viewpoint swimmer for 3rd. Nadia dropped over four seconds to place 4th in the Girls 25 Butterfly, with Arianna beating her personal best by a second to place 5th. Finishing the meet in exciting fashion, the Girls 100 Free A Relay (Arianna, Nadia, Lauren, and Julia) placed 2nd and the Girls 200 Free Relay of Dahlia F., Sophia D., Ameerah G., and Banou N. placed 4th. The final event, the Boys 200 Free Relay, saw Viewpoint and Berkeley Hall in yet another duel for first place. It was close the entire race, with Viewpoint holding off a surging Berkeley Hall team (2nd, David, Daniel, Blaine, Pranaya).
Other notable swims included Luke G.'s 25 Fly, in which he dropped a remarkable ten seconds off his personal best time; Henry G.'s 25 Free (-3.31), Sophia D.’s 25 Breaststroke (-3.63), Ameerah’s 25 Free (-2.7) Julia’s 50 Free (-2.58) and Keil C.’s 25 Back (-2). Twenty of twenty-three swimmers swam a personal best time in the meet. Finally, Katie B. raced hard as the only fourth grader entered. Overall, Berkeley Hall’s Swim Team placed 3rd overall, narrowly missing second. The Boys’ team finished in 2nd and the Girls’ in 4th. It was such a thrill to see so many fast swims and so many improved times! Congratulations to our Berkeley Hall swimmers for a great season.
Located in Los Angeles, CA, Berkeley Hall School is a private, coeducational school for students in preschool through grade 8. Rigorous academics in a supportive atmosphere and grounded character development allow students to become fearless scholars and conscientious citizens - gain a love of learning, leadership with social responsibility, creativity with moral integrity, and self-esteem with compassion for others and the environment.