Competitive swimming requires dedication. From gaining swift times to the ability to breathe underwater to the ability to handle the immense pressure of the grand competition with other teams, high school swimming takes some grit and determination. At the 2024 NYSPHAA Girls Section One Championships, the Scarsdale Girls Swimming and Diving Team made Scarsdale history.
On November 6th at Suny Purchase, the team started strong with diving. Iris Wang ’26 won first place in the Girl’s one-meter diving event with 434.15 points. Then, on November 12th at Felix Festa Middle School in West Nyack, the swim team performed remarkably as well. In the 200 Yard Medley Relay, team members Lori Jiang ’27, Alex Horney ’28, Joy Kang ’25, and Sophie Reis ’28 finished at a fast time of 1:50.15 minutes placing them in third. The team then placed 4th for the 200 Yard Free Relay with members Audrey Li ’26, Sophia Dugan ’25, Sunny Kang, and Horney with a time of 1:41.72 seconds. The team ended well at Sectionals with the team placing 2nd in the 400 Yard Free Relay with members Reis, Sunny Kang, Joy Kang, and Jiang finishing at a time of 3:34.76.
Individually, Jiang won 1st place in the 100 Yard Free with a time of 51.58 seconds and 2nd place in the 50 Yard Free with 24.02 seconds. Horney won 3rd place at the 100 Yard Breast with a time of 1:06.64 minutes, being the only freshman in the top 5.
The win at Sectionals was satisfying for all team members with their hard work and dedication to getting to where they are now, with eight people on the team qualifying for States. Many team members practice for meets and competitions almost every day of the week for hours, making sure they can achieve their fullest potential. The sport requires a major commitment taking up hours of their time outside of school and meets and practices all year round.
Wang practices diving six days a week for two hours, with an hour of conditioning on the remaining day. “This is my training schedule almost all year round, but I focus more on the specific dives I’m competing in,” she shared.
Team Captain Dugan has a similar schedule. “Personally for big meets, I try to practice at least five times a week on my club team. We run practices that are 90 minutes to two hours,” Dugan said.
On November 22nd and 23rd, the team competed at States. Their podium finishes consisted of Jiang placing 2nd in the 100 Free and 10th in the 50 Free, as well as Reis, Sunny Kang, Joy Kang, and Jiang placing 4th in the 400 Free Relay. Scarsdale placed 6th at States, compared with all the other schools in New York, and Section One overall placed 1st, compared with all the other sections.
“In my opinion winning sectionals was a bigger deal because the way it works for States is that everyone that qualifies for States in Section One goes together to represent the section as a whole,” Li explained.
The Scarsdale Girls Swimming team truly is a tight and close community, helping each other to achieve the best. From their bond and supporting one another, they were able to make Scarsdale history with this first win; hopefully their success will continue in the future. “Whether it’s a girl who just made a state cut, or someone finishing an event they had never competed in before, I feel like the amount of love shown to everybody is not only equal but very strong,” Dugan stated.
Congratulations to the Girls Swimming and Diving team for a strong fall season!
