Tam boys swim coach Dave Beutel took a fully-clothed dip in the pool on Saturday, May 12, as the team won their fourth consecutive MCAL title.
“The meet was neck and neck the entire way and we were able to pull it out in the end,” said senior Brennan Latimer. “Everyone contributed to the win, and the team was able to perform under pressure.”
“The points between Tam and Terra Linda were constantly around the 20 point separation either us up or them. It was intense,” said senior Joe Weber.
Tam finished the meet with 386 points, closely followed by Terra Linda, who had 371 points. This 15 point margin is extremely close, considering there were more than 2100 points awarded throughout the meet.
Senior Lucas Sohn agreed, saying, “It really came down to depth. Tam has the most fast swimmers, even though teams like Terra Linda or Marin Catholic have really talented guys who can win every event they swim. What this meant for Saturday was that even though TL took first in many more events than Tam, we had a lot more swimmers in finals.”
Sohn points to the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and junior Miguel Mattox’s victory in the 500 freestyle as the races that ultimately determined the outcome of the meet.
Sohn and Weber agreed that sophomore Sean Haechler’s 100 butterfly race was the best swim of the meet.
“He dropped like 4 seconds or something, going a 52.7, which is half a second from the record, and was competing with three year-round senior swimmers who qualify for nationals,” said Weber.
In the last four years, the team has lost just one dual meet (versus Terra Linda last year).
“I think it’s pretty incredible,” said Sohn. “We won against every other team every year, and took 1st in every MCAL championship… but we didn’t dominate every event we swam. It was a lot of hard work, and it was really close, especially this year.”
“Being a senior, I really wanted to win a consecutive four seasons,” said Riley Sykes. “What was really special was seeing the younger swimmers work just as hard for their first win as I worked for my fourth.”