The Jefferson Swim and Dive team competed against Justice High School in a swim meet at Audrey Moore at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20. Both the Jefferson Girls Swim and Dive team and Boys Swim and Dive team won handily, finishing the night with a winning score of 179-133 for the boys and 204-110 for the girls.

This particular meet was especially intense, with the two schools clashing in what is known as class warfare. Still, students maintained an optimistic outlook.

“Today we have class warfare – that’s what they call it. [This means] we have juniors competing seniors and sophomores against freshmen,” junior Rohan Mishra said. “Hopefully [we’ll] win, I guess that’s the obvious thing to say but we’re trying our best – hoping for a win.”

For some, the meet was not only about beating the opponent, but also about personal improvement.

“After today I want to cut down on my time, and maybe swim different events I haven’t swum before,” freshman Evan Zhang said.

Being on the swim team requires lots of hard work and commitment, and it can be challenging to balance rigorous coursework with hours of swim practice.

“Practices are usually after school for an hour, but I live pretty far away from Audrey Moore, which is where we have our practices. And so it’s hard to decide whether I actually want to go to practice or stay home and do my homework,” sophomore Allison Wan said.

Despite the many challenges, the positives of the swim experience outweigh the negatives.

“Senior house is pretty fun, you get like a gift every week. Sometimes people can write pretty nice notes to you and help encourage you to try your best,” Wan said. “I feel like, although I’m not the best swimmer, people definitely encourage you to go faster and just have fun.”