On Friday, November 7, the girls swim team arrived at the Sailfish Splashpark Aquatic Center, ready to take on the State Championship swim meet. This is where the best of the best go to compete in the final stage of the state series. The team qualified for the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay, while Paloma Sanchez and Hannah Cordes qualified individually. After their successful wins at the regional meet, they were excited to take their successes to the state championship.

“Winning the relays at regionals was insane. I am so lucky to have been able to swim with this team, and competing at states my senior year was an awesome ending to my high school swimming season. I am so proud of all of the girls” senior and c0-captain Hanna Payne said.

Going into the meet in 13th place in the 200-yard medley relay, the girls fought hard, and after the preliminary round and finals they ended up shaving a little bit off their time and placed 12th. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the girls started off in 11th place and were able to beat their times, leaving them in 10th place. The relays consisted of senior Hanna Payne, who swam the backstroke in the medley relay and swam second in the freestyle relay,  sophomore Hannah Cordes, who swam the breaststroke in the medley relay and finished off going last in the freestyle relay, senior Jesitt Perez, who swam the butterfly in the medley relay and went third in the freestyle relay, and freshman Paloma Sanchez, who swam the freestyle in the medley relay and lead of the freestyle relay. 

“This Gables women’s states team has surpassed any expectations I could have set for them. I am extremely proud of all four girls and the seniors will be missed as we prepare for states next year. Getting relays to states needs to be a tradition that Gables keeps alive” head swim coach Fraga said.

Sanchez qualified individually in the 50-yard freestyle. She swam hard and made it back to swim again in finals. It was a race of milliseconds to the finish and Sanchez ended up in 14th place. Cordes qualified individually in the 200-yard individual medley. She started the meet off in 20th place and although she fought hard in preliminaries, she ended up finishing 22nd.

“Competing at states felt so surreal. I never thought we would get that far and the fact that both of our relays and two girls made it in individual events to represent gables at states made me feel so proud. My last swim season was definitely the most successful of my four years. I think it’s safe to say that Gables has an amazing swim program” co-captain Jesitt Perez said.

Overall, the girls put in a lot of work and reached their goal of qualifying for states. Although part of the relay consisted of seniors, the rest of the team is determined to make it back next year stronger than ever.