The pool bleachers were nearly full last Friday evening as the Wolves took on their crosstown rivals, the Niles North Vikings. The Niles West side of the bleachers was a sea of red while the Vikings had a smattering of purple and black here and there. The National Anthem was played and before you knew it, the meet had started. Everyone on both teams swam their best (some even swam lifetime best times), and in the end it was the Niles West girls who walked off the deck with a win under their belts. The varsity team won the meet with a score of 97-89.
In the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, the Wolves took second and third with times of 2:07.40 and 2:07.41. Although the Vikings took first in the event by a little less than five seconds, the Wolves still maintained a positive outlook on the events to come. By the time the 50 freestyle came up, the Niles West swimmers had lined their side of the pool in support of juniors Edan Scott and Maddie Wozny, and freshman Lauren Patt. Scott took first with a time of 24.50 and broke the pool record by 0.03 seconds, which garnered a cheer from the stands and also from the swimmers on deck. Not so long after, sophomore Dev Paltzer took first in the varsity diving portion of the meet with a score of 129.25.
The second half of the meet was full of victories for the Wolves. Patt took first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 59.64, just beating out freshman Viking Elena Ruiz by a mere 0.12 seconds. The team of sophomore Emma Helgeson, Wozny, Patt, and Scott took first in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:44.47, with the Vikings coming in a second later. In the 100 breaststroke, senior captain Mary Giffen came in first with a time of 1:17.19, with fellow senior Rebecca Yun coming in second just half a second later with a time of 1:17.56. Their goal, given by head coach Jason Macejak, had been to beat out senior Viking Dasha Tumashov and they had succeeded.
“There [were] season best times and scores, lifetime best times and scores, and record setting times by both teams all meet long,” said Macejak in an email.
