Lindsey Smith

After 10 months, the Pines Charter Swim Team is back at it once again for the fall season! With the new additions to the team—a few freshmen and even a couple of middle schoolers—the team plans to take the swimming world by storm. 

Preparations for the season started the week before school began, and they continued to train consistently. There are very high hopes for the team, starting the season fresh with a new, highly experienced coach, Jessica Rodriguez. One of the captains, Kaitlyn Jorgensen, happily stated, “We have an amazing coach this year, and she is going to do wonders for our team!” Another captain, Lucas Porven, commented, “I’m excited for the upcoming season because, honestly, I’m proud of our team and how we’ve grown. We’re like a family already; we’ve got some old members who have been with us for a while, and we have some brand new members who’re ready to join us.”

 With the desire to go far this year, the swim team has its eyes on one target this year: to make it as far as possible. Last year, only a few students made it to States, however, this year the team hopes to change that! Lucas Porven added, “We have an amazing build this year with extremely fast swimmers, and I think we got the chance to make it to States.” Captain Carolina Argüelles mentions, “I hope that we can get the whole team to states this year. It sounds very difficult, but it can happen. I think that the varsity and junior varsity swimmers have the potential to get far this year.”

 On Thursday, August 31st, the team had their very first meet of the season. They competed against McArthur High School and Coral Springs High School. They successfully brought home a win that night and began the school season on the right foot. Carolina Arguelles excitedly shared, “First swim meet, first success I am very proud of the team.”

 There are super high hopes for the future of the swim team this year. Lucas Porven remarked, “I hope everyone gets to reach those goals they’ve made for themselves” With a supportive team behind the new upcoming swimmers, the goal is clear: diving back into states.