For the majority of the talent-laden swimmers in the Central Coast Section, their goal is pretty simple: hit a Central Coast Section-qualifying time. Sobrato High has a handful of swimmers who have already done just that, with the possibility of more to follow. On the girls side, the Bulldogs 400 free relay team of Helena Baty, Annie Ly, Kassidy Prim and Nina Aliamus hit the CCS qualifying time in the first meet of the season in early March.
Freshman sensation Ly has already qualified for the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Aliamus, a senior, is close to qualifying in her best individual event, the 50-yard freestyle. Just as important, Aliamus is enjoying the sport more than ever. After qualifying for the 50 free as a sophomore, Aliamus was disappointed to not be able to repeat that feat during her junior season.
“I expected to be better, so it brought my confidence down a little bit,” she said. “But junior year is known to be stressful, and I wasn’t going to as many practices as I should have been because swimming wasn’t a priority due to school work. I feel a lot more confident this year because I’m more focused on swimming.”
Aliamus has learned to manage the anxiety that built up after trying to do many things at once. Granted, it’s hard for high school students today to not take on too many things, as competition is greater than ever for college entry. But last year the pressure mounted and things started snowballing, leaving Aliamus in a less than desirable emotional state.
“I struggled a lot with taking on too many things and didn’t know how to handle it,” she said. “No matter how much I took on, I never felt like it was enough or I was doing enough. But this year I feel like everything is under control. I’ve learned to manage my time and what to take on and what not to take on. I’ve learned to take a step back, and it’s making a huge difference.”
With a sense of liberation and peace, Aliamus has been swimming well, as she took second place in both the 50 and 100 free while being a part of Sobrato’s victorious 200 free relay team—which included Jackson, Batey and Prim—in a three-way duel meet with Branham and Live Oak on March 21.
Other highlights include Batey winning the 200 and 500 free and the quartet of Batey, Prim, Molly Foster and Aziza Calvert winning the 400 free relay event. On the boys side, Clayton Sawyer won the 100 free by 5 seconds and the 200 free by 11 seconds; Jacob Hatch picked up a pair of impressive victories in the 100 back and 200 individual medley; and the team of Hatch, Sawyer, Stephen Parker and Kyle Nguyen won the 400 free relay race.
Sobrato also has a solid group of divers who have an excellent shot of qualifying to CCS, including Kylie Katsuyoshi, Grace Baker and Kelly Ann Lim. Sawyer takes great satisfaction in excelling in the 200 free, as it presents the biggest challenge for him both mentally and physically.
“It’s the hardest event for me, and I feel the happiest when I’m done with that event,” he said. “It’s the hardest because it’s fairly long, but in order to be competitive you have to go all out almost the entire way. It’s hard to pace that race, but I feel over the years I’ve made the most progress in that event. That is why I tend to enjoy it the most.”
Sawyer is counting on producing faster times as the season goes along. A two-time CCS qualifier in relay events, Sawyer—who also played four years of water polo and three seasons of soccer at Sobrato—has a goal to nail a CCS qualifying time in the 100 free. If that happens, it’ll likely come against fast competition.
“I normally get my best times when I’m under pressure,” he said. “Against people who are faster than me.
Aliamus and Sawyer have done wonders out of the pool as well. Aliamus has a cumulative 4.2 GPA, is the vice president of the Random Acts of Kindness club on campus and takes pride in being a role model for her younger sister in the eighth grade.
“She pushes me to be a better person knowing she’s looking up to me,” said Aliamus, who has been accepted to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
Sawyer plans on playing water polo at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo before transferring to a four-year university with the plan of becoming a mechanical engineer.
