The stands roared with noise as Zoah ’16 approached the platform for the 100-yard breaststroke. The water looked calm as she poised to dive in. She crouched down and tensed up. She hit the water. The next thing she knew she was at the other end of the pool, having just finished her race. As she climbed out of the water, her teammates greeted her with huge cheers, ecstatic about another win for Marlborough.

On Friday, May 10, the Marlborough Junior Varsity and Varsity swim teams won their league finals at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, marking the seventh consecutive year that the Varsity team has placed first in the Sunshine League finals.

Marlborough entered the 2014 finals as the defending champions. According to teammates and friends who saw the meet, the team was favored to win and exceeded expectations, as most girls succeeded in beating their average times in their events.

League Finals was the last swimming event for many seniors, like Sophia ’14, who said that she would be sad to leave the team.

“Winning [league] was… incredibly satisfying and a great way to wrap up my last season competing for Marlborough,” Sophia said.

According to Zoah, participating in finals every year is a bonding experience for the team. She noted that everybody roots for their team loudly during finals because it is the last time cheering on the seniors as Mustang swimmers.

“Being together as a team and encouraging each other to swim faster and watching the hard work pay off was an amazing experience to share with each other and made us closer as a team,” Zoah said.

Following league finals, Varsity swimmers Jaylen ’14, Zoah ’16, Christina ’14, Jackie  ‘14, Kay ’17, Emily ’15, Yu- Shien’15, and Remy ’14 competed in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) finals on Thursday, May 15. At CIF finals, individual swimmers from around Los Angeles county who were able to exceed a certain time in their races met to swim against each other.

Additionally, McKenna ’14 participated in the CIF-SS Diving Prelims and Championships on Tuesday, May 13. McKenna finished in sixth place overall and her 438.5 points were added to the Marlborough swim team’s total at CIF finals.

While the girls didn’t win CIF finals, winning league finals and going to CIF showed that their hard work paid off.

Jaylen, a senior on the Varsity team, said she was proud of her team for achieving 12 wins and zero losses this season and was happy to see nine of her 13 teammates go to CIF.

“I honestly can say that it’s heart-breaking that I won’t be swimming with these girls next year because I consider them family. I probably cried myself to sleep the night of CIF finals,” Jaylen said.