By XAVIER LEMUS
The Jericho High School swim team had a breakout season this year compared to last year’s performance. This 2022 squad was young, hungry, and successful, and finished with a 6-2 record, making divisional playoffs and counties.
In terms of team performance, it significantly improved. Prior to the 2022 season, the Jayhawks had losing seasons. Last year, the Jayhawks finished their season last in the standings with a 2-5 record. Co-captain, diver and junior Rachel Yang was thrilled with the team’s work this year. She said, “My team’s performance has been phenomenal this year. So many of my teammates improved, and many qualified for counties.”
This success came with spirit, unity and heart. Senior and freestyle swimmer Jennifer Baek felt a sense of harmony as the Jayhawks worked together and lowered their times. “All members were very collaborative, and nearly every single person saw a drop in their times by a large amount of seconds,“ she said.
Diving has also improved tremendously this season, with records broken all over the board.
Rachel Yang broke her own school record for diving by scoring a 310.87 to become the 4th diver in Nassau County to break 300 points in a 6-dive meet. “Whenever I break my record I feel a sense of relief. Sometimes, I don’t have the best meet and still beat my record, encouraging me to nail all my dives in the next meet to score higher,” Rachel said.
And she did just that in the postseason setting a new state record for diving.
Freshman swimmer Mia Shu also found the team’s 2022 season to be a successful one. However, she looks forward to next year to keep the current achievement on a steady pace. “As a team we look forward to dropping our times and keeping the winning culture alive,” she said.
The future of the Jericho varsity girls swimming team is bright as Rachel Yang and the Jayhawk swimmers transform their program into something that is poised to take some big strokes.