Boys’ Swim and Dive Team Shares Opinions on State Placing

Last Saturday, East’s Boys’ Swim and Dive Team took a rough fall from their previous first place record, taking home fifth place overall. Although technically a good placement, this was sub-par to the team’s past records. Varsity swimmers junior Jonathon Granstaff, sophomore David Martinez, and senior Branden Schoofs share their opinions about the good and the bad of the season.

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With three seniors gone, Granstaff didn’t have high hopes for the meet.

“We have great freshmen, but we knew we probably weren’t going to win,” Granstaff said. “The biggest challenge for the team was making up for the seniors and points that they had.”

“[Coach] Wiley always tapers us well and we go in strong and he always gives us a great pep talk going in.”

Even though overall placement seemed unattainable, Granstaff still managed to meet his goal, placing top 16 in the 100 backstroke.

“As a team we did above expectation,” Granstaff said.

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Martinez shared Granstaff’s placement expectations, not expecting to win first, but having a good time trying to get there.

“My individual goal was to beat my times, have fun and enjoy the team,” Martinez said.

Martinez ended up placing 8th in the 100 fly, thanks to “practicing hard and tapering well.”

“I think we all gave 100 percent and everything went pretty great,” Martinez said.

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Schoofs’s thoughts echoed those of his teammates.

“The mindset of the team going into the meet was the same: We were all going to do our best — win or not,” Schoofs said. “At the end of the day we would all try our best.”

Schoofs did just that. Although he attempted to meet his goal of breaking 22 in the 50 freestyle, he feels he did his best, and that he “wanted to give [his] all to the team.” His advice to the team is to realize and utilize the different strengths of the new team members vs. the graduated team members.

“We also should have ‘stopped to smell the roses’ and realize it is a group effort,” Schoofs said. “As great as it is winning, it’s the fun and friendships that matter most.”