The South Tahoe High School swim team is now 4-0 after its most recent competition on Saturday, April 8, at the Tahoe-Truckee Swim Center. South Tahoe, Sparks, Sage Ridge, Truckee, North Tahoe and Incline high schools were represented at the meet.

Meet coordinators divide the teams into groups of two so not all teams compete against one another; South Tahoe was matched against Sage Ridge. According to South Tahoe swimming coach William Davenport, the girls team came away with a comfortable win of 145 to 49, while the boys had a much closer win of 86 to 74.

Davenport said the swimmers have been putting in a lot of effort to further develop their stroke skills and he’s pleased with the progress he’s seen. “We’ve had quite a few swimmers develop well enough to where they can swim the individual-medley race, which is the hardest race,” he said. “I’ve been very happy with the stroke development from all of the swimmers.” The individual medley includes all four stroke styles.

Getting things off to a promising start for the girls, swimmers Alex Otomo, Hannah Trew, Sophie Stewart and Maia Smith took first in the 200 medley. Later, Maddy Evans added some points for the girls with her first place finish in the 100 freestyle and Sophie Stewart took the 100 backstroke. “It was a great performance from all of the girls,” said Davenport. According to Davenport, the boys team has been working through some injuries and tough penalties, but have managed to compensate. “The boys team was undermanned due to key injuries, but the remaining swimmers competed valiantly,” said Davenport. “An early disqualification in the 200 medley relay put our team behind.”

Down to just seven competitors on the boys team, they managed to keep themselves afloat, with a first place finish in the 500 freestyle from Tristan Klasko and a second place finish in the same event from Owen Slater. The boys weren’t out of the woods yet, though; they were down 70-67 with only two races left.

Tevan Martorana won the 100 breaststroke in the individual and the team of Owen Slater, Luke Allen, Tvan Marorana and Tristan Klasko added just enough points with their second place finish in the 400 freestyle relay to seal the win.

The team has a little time off until its next meet on April 21, where they will be competing against Sparks High at the Carson Valley Swim Center. Davenport said having a meet there is beneficial for the swimmers since that is where both the regional and state meets will be held. “The next three weeks lead up to regionals,” said Davenport. “These will be the most intense practices that we’ll have and we’ll try to get them ready for their best performances.”

Davenport said he is confident that the team will perform well against Sparks and is looking forward to getting the swimmers back in the pool after spring break. In addition to working on stroke form, Davenport said he’s trying to work on the fundamentals that can go a long way in a competition. “We work continually on small things like starts, turns, transitions and finishing,” he said. “Where you can do well is if your team does those little things well. It makes seconds of difference here and there, but those seconds are what determine first or second.”