When winter break ended, students prepared to hunker down and continue with their studies. However, the swim team was preparing for something else entirely. On Wednesday, Jan. 5, during third period, the Klein High Swim Team embarked on a long journey to West Texas, where they would compete at the Lubbock Swimming and Diving Invitational. 

“I felt okay [going into the meet], but a little nervous after a long break with not that many practices.” senior and varsity swim team member Braden Hamilton said. “We had practices on Monday and Tuesday before school was back in session, and then Wednesday morning before we left.”

After their lengthy ten-hour drive on Wednesday, the swim team had a day off to practice at the pool that they would be swimming at, the Pete Tagus Aquatic Center. Friday was the first day of the invitational, where all those competing swam in their preliminary rounds, which would determine if they moved on to finals the next day. 

“We all generally dropped [made a faster time],” freshman and varsity swim team member Trenton Cassens said. “We were happy with our times, considering we’d never swam in that pool, and we had a long bus ride.”

On Saturday, the last day of the trip, multiple team members competed in finals. In the A finals, competing members were: The boy’s 200-yard medley relay, who placed 7th; sophomore Ciara O’Sullivan in the 200-yard freestyle, who placed 8th; freshman Emma Smotek in the 50-yard freestyle, who placed 5th; freshman Quint Erwin in the 50-yard freestyle, who placed 8th; junior Lorenzo Viteri in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard breaststroke, in which he placed 4th in both; freshman Eva Burleson, who placed 7th in the 500-yard freestyle, and senior Victoria Sanchez, who placed 8th; junior Quinn Flavin in the 500-yard freestyle, who placed 4th; Cassens in the 800-yard backstroke, who placed 6th; and the girls 400-yard freestyle relay, who placed 7th. The girl’s 200-yard medley relay also would have competed in the A final, but their event was scrapped due to team members getting sick.

“The meet was well-organized. Especially when it’s a prelims/finals meet, it needs to be,” Hamilton said. “I think that the meet coordinators did a really good job. And considering how many teams there were, it was very smooth and easy to get through.”