Berkeley’s swim team is looking to have another tremendous season. Because of the team’s large number of talented young swimmers who have worked tirelessly to improve on last season’s results, a strong run in districts and states by the Bucs seems likely.  The highly intense summer workouts that the team is pushing through will play a large role in the successful year ahead.

Just ask Junior Elle Chancey and the rest of the team, who have been doing “two-a-days [practicing twice a day] every day of the summer so far.”  Chancey is a sprinter and swims the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events. As a personal objective, she wants to break the school records for the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle events.  In addition to those high personal goals that she has set for herself, she hopes that the team has a winning season and finishes as district champs.  Like Chancey, Junior Keating Mosher is a sprinter and participates in the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle events.  Mosher is also enduring the brutal two a days by practicing from six to nine in the morning and then four to six thirty in the afternoon.  Mosher also has lofty goals for himself and the team: “I want to be top eight in the state in both of my events and I expect the team to be able to rank top five in the state.”

Another junior swimmer at Berkeley is Ryan Franzese, who swims the sprint races and the 200 and 400 freestyle A relay and has been participating in two a days as well. The swim team’s summer regimen goes beyond practice. “Berkeley has been represented in many meets, including the biggest meet of the summer, which was the Senior Championships.  In addition, a group participated in the intense training camp in Ohio this summer,” Franzese said. His expectations reflect the hard work the team has put in this summer; he hopes that he will “rank top sixteen in both of his individual events at states and for the team to place highly at states.”  Furthermore, he expects the juniors and seniors on the team to set the precedent for future years and to lead the team in the postseason.

It is evident that this talented group of swimmers is poised for a phenomenal season because of their strong work ethic.

The young swimmers’ development this summer promises a successful season for the Buccaneers. Even though it has been an intense but fun summer in the water, it will all be worth it when the swimmers are earning trophies and stacking medals around their necks.