Spring sports previews: Girls swimming

The Evergreen Valley girls swimming squad kicked off its season in January with over 70 eager swimmers out on the pool deck for team tryouts. Tryouts were vigorous and competitive, but at the end, only 44 of the most talented and hard-working made the team. This group looks to improve upon last season's fourth place finish in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division. “Our rival teams of Pioneer and Leland always prove to be promising competitors. Evergreen's girls swim team has an array of specialty swimmers who work together and compete vigorously to keep our team in A league, where it belongs,” says team veteran Stephanie Nguyen. Among these top swimmers are Lucia Huang, Nicole Reyes, and Jessica Martinez.

The team welcomed new head coach DeAnka Pantoja to the Cougar family this season. According to Nguyen, “Her coaching ethics so far, differ from our prior coach with stricter rules on tardiness and seemingly more difficult sets. She also expresses stricter exertion on unifying our team.”

The girls swimming team will open up its league season at home on Friday, March 13 vs. Westmont.