The boys swim team finished the year by claiming second place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) and third place in Central Coast Section (CCS). Sophomore Andrew Josefov looks back on the team’s progress with a positive attitude.

“We’re proud of what we accomplished,” Josefov said. “[Henry M. Gunn High School] has the most talented team ever, but we ended up getting second in Leagues and third in CCS. We lost to Gunn by 70 points in Leagues but when we were going to finals we were seated to lose to them by over 160 points so it was a big accomplishment that we were able to beat the odds.”

Palo Alto High School’s boys swim team will be losing eight seniors next year and very few freshmen are predicted to join the team, so the players who plan on returning need to be ready to step up into the seniors’ spots.

“I’m definitely prepared for next year,” said Josefov. “I’m excited to step up in the seniors’ events or roles and score points because there’s only so many positions for people to score points at dual meets. The events I swam were the the events that we were already really strong in so I didn’t have a chance to score points.”

Although the seniors are leaving, Josefov is prepared to take on a leadership role to make up for the devastating loss.

“The upperclassmen tend to sit on the wall and talk, and if we’re gonna put in the work and do well, that’s on us,” Josefov said. “Regardless, it’s definitely going to be a blow because all of our seniors scored points consistently but all schools will have that so should still be set for next year.”

The team is confident in vast improvement for the team with some players individually moving on to State Championships. Looking forward in the year, Josefov hopes that each teammate can work individually so the team can work together next season.

“We are really trying to get better so that we can eventually beat Gunn because we have previously held the League title for the last 10 years in a row, but this was the first year that Gunn took the title and the Paly boys team ended up getting second place.”

Josefov highlighted that there’s nothing wrong with the team; it’s whether or not the team goes on to win is all based on the player’s efforts.

“There’s nothing you can fix, just improve on what you have,” Josefov said. “We’re not going to get that many new swimmers. It’s more individual swimmers that need to improve on their own; it’s not going to be someone else doing the job for them.”

The team has set some more tangible goals to complete during the season, according to Josefov.

“Like always, trying to beat Bellarmine,” Josefov. “They’ve won for the past 31 years at CCS and we were second for the past 5 years. We have a better chance next year because they’re practically graduating their entire team.”