(Image courtesy of the Costal Mechanics Aquatics Club on Instagram)
A recap of the CIF that happened May, 2024, straight from one of the swimmers themselves.
As most of the CMHS sports seasons wind down for the year, one made a big impact near the end of the year, and they have for a while.
The Costa Mesa Swim Team have both competed and won the CIF for their 2021 and 2023 season, respectively. Including this year as well.
As someone who’s not into sports, this piqued my interest. I felt inclined to learn more. So, I’ve managed to get one of our very own members of our high school swim team on board for an interview, that being sophomore Avrum Xagorarakis.
Below is the interview hosted between us. From how the games are set up, to personal thoughts, I was able to get the inside look I wanted.
Q: “So how exactly do the swim games work?“
A: “Essentially it’s about 40 events; There’s different types of strokes: Freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, all different types of swimming, and different distances. Whoever has the fastest time, wins. Break one of the rules, disqualified.”
Q: “What is the CIF and its significance?”
A: “It’s essentially, it’s putting the best high schoolers in the region– and a couple counties as well, and pretty much just seeing who’s the best swimmer, or the best team.”
Q: “How did it go? Or how did you feel after it’s done?”
A: “It wasn’t like, something crazy to feel. I was on a pretty good club team two years ago. They get a lot of wins in competitions, so it kinda just felt normal. I’m sure for everyone else there is super excited because like– I don’t think we’ve won CIF in any other sport. Maybe in cheerleading.”
Q: “How did the season go overall?”
A:”It was a little bit rough for just me specifically in the first half, but it kept getting better as the season went on. Everyone else is doing amazing, though.”
Q: “Supposedly you’ve broken school records for your efforts in the swim team, could you elaborate?”
A: “I broke six school records, in individual and relay 200 in freestyle, 100 yard butterfly, 200 yard in medley. Then, all 3 relays are 200 freestyle, 400 yard freestyle, and 200 medley relay.”
Q: “How do you feel about your accomplishments personally?”
A: “I could do better.”
Me: “There’s always room for improvement, but that’s a good thing, I think.”
A: “Yeah. You can’t be too arrogant.”
With those short questions answered, the interview concluded from there. I’ll leave it off here with a couple of words.
It was refreshing, stepping out of my element to cover something school related, let alone sport related. I’m grateful for the opportunity and for Avrum for even giving me the chance to interview him at all.
Here’s to a successful season next year! I’m looking forward to it.
