There is no question that the girls’ varsity swimming team has been dominant in MCAL for years, but after winning the pennant for the 10th consecutive year, the Redwood girls reaffirmed that this year is no different.
However, the team did not begin the season with as much confidence as previous years, fearing that other teams in the league would close the gap this season.
In the penultimate meet of the regular season, both Tam and Redwood girls entered the meet with 7-0 records. Despite any concerns, Redwood emerged victorious by a slim margin of eight points, allowing the girls’ team to finish out the season completely undefeated.
At the MCAL championships at Drake last Saturday, Redwood beat second place Marin Catholic by a margin of 76 points, the highest winning margin the team has seen in years. Tam, after posing a serious threat early on, placed third.
Last year, the Redwood girls beat Marin Catholic by only 44 points, though a disqualification in the last relay cost the team 32 additional points. According to sophomore Emma McCarthy, Redwood was projected to place fourth last season, but managed to maintain their streak.
Still, compared to 2010 when the Redwood girls beat Tam by 150 points and Marin Catholic by almost 200 points, the gap has still closed considerably.
McCarthy said that other teams were stronger this year than they were last year, and were considered to pose more of the a threat to the girls’ winning streak.
Matthew McDowell, Redwood’s new swimming coach, attributes the team’s success to the size of the co-ed swim team, which is comprised of over 70 swimmers.
“Our strengths are in our numbers. No other team has the depth that I have,” McDowell said. “In a race we could have 20 kids ready to race one event and the other school only has a couple.”
Junior Ariana Traub said that although Redwood and Tam have strong programs, Redwood has the advantage with club swimmers and the largest team in the league.
“We have eight girls that are club swimmers and the most from any other team would be Marin Catholic who has three,” Traub said. “Even if there aren’t club swimmers they still score points that was why we won last year, we have such deep depth that we were able to get a lot of points.”
McCarthy said that the team is strongest in the 200 medley relay and the freestyle.
“We have a really strong 200 medley relay. We can probably either win or get second in that event to Tam,” she said. “This year there is a lot of depth in all the teams in the 100 fly and the 200 free and so those two races are going to be the most competitive ones.”
Redwood’s two divers also contributed to the points total. Junior Raichel Perper and senior Liza Rodler placed second and third, respectively, in the 1 meter diving event last Thursday.
