After the conclusion of the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay Division Championships, fifteen varsity swimmers advanced to the Central Coast Section (CCS) Swimming and Diving Championships to compete a week later. Of the 15 swimmers who competed at CCS, three juniors later went on to compete at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Swimming and Diving Championships, with one swimmer qualifying for CIF finals.

Swimmers achieve personal records and reflect on CCS memories

From Thursday, May 7, to Saturday, May 9, CCS Championships were hosted at Independence High School.

Juniors Alexa Chang, Ben Gilbert, and Justin Chiang led the charge this postseason, with Chang placing fifth in both the girls’ 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly with a personal record of 55.99 in the 100 fly.

Chang’s younger sister, freshman Kayla Chang, placed ninth in the 100 fly, also achieving a personal record of 57.06 in finals.

Gilbert and Chiang also had an incredibly successful CCS meet, with Gilbert placing sixth in the boys’ 100 fly, and Chiang placing seventh in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle and 11th in the boys’ 100-yard freestyle.

With these performances, Chang, Gilbert, and Chiang all qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Swimming and Diving Championships the following week.

Throughout the season, both the boys’ and girls’ relays excelled. Out of six Burlingame relays that qualified for CCS, three qualified for CCS finals: the boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay, girls’ 400-yard freestyle relay, and boys’ 400-yard freestyle relay.

Senior Catherine Kwong was among the swimmers who made it to CCS Championships, and after four years of attempting to reach finals at CCS, this year she finally made it. For Kwong, finaling at CCS her senior year was a testament to her growth over the years.

“Just seeing it grow from a freshman, only having two qualifiers at CCS on the team to now having four individual qualifiers and getting to finals in our 400 free relay. I think that was really exciting to see,” Kwong said.

According to coach Traci Kreppel, the team has had a historic season, with swimmers achieving personal records, new school and meet record times, and first-time CCS qualifications.

“They all did great, you couldn’t have asked for anything better. I think that everyone was happy with their times. It’s a really big swim meet, so the fact that they made it to CCS is just really great. A lot of first-time CCS swimmers, so that was really great to see,” Kreppel said.

Junior swimmers make history at CIF Championships

From Friday, May 15, to Saturday, May 16, Alexa Chang, Gilbert, and Chiang competed at the CIF State Swimming and Diving Championships at Clovis West High School, marking the most swimmers from Burlingame to ever compete at the meet.

Chang has qualified for CIF Championships since her freshman year, and until this year, had not made the finals. Last year, Chang missed making CIF finals by a few hundredths of a second in the 100-yard backstroke, but this year, Chang redeemed herself by making CIF finals in that same event.

Chang said it was exciting to qualify for finals and compete against some of the best swimmers in the state.

“At this meet it’s really fun because everyone’s just so fast, and it’s really cool to see some of the most intense races, and the announcers always call it like the fastest high school meet on the planet, it’s just so much fun,” Chang said.

Gilbert transferred to Burlingame this year, and made waves with multiple personal records in his first season at Burlingame. Gilbert went into the CIF Championships seeded 40th in the 100 fly, and by the end, came out 23rd while setting a new personal record of 49.70.

For Gilbert, proving that he could get faster in each swim was meaningful.

“I mean, pretty much I went in as an underdog. I was 40th going in, and I came out 23rd, so I was honestly pretty happy, even though I didn’t make finals, that I at least like to prove something to myself that I could cut time back to back to back with PALs, and be in CCS and state,” Gilbert said.

Chiang had never made it to CIF before this season, and qualifying for CIF was one of his goals for the season.

Chiang placed 30th in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 21.03, just shy of his previous best time of 20.89 from the week prior at CCS. Chiang noted that he has grown in confidence as well as skill throughout the past seasons he has been swimming.

“Definitely confidence, and last year, I didn’t even make the final for CCS, but this year I got to A final and qualified state,” Chiang said.

Throughout the season, the one thing the swimmers have made sure to do is cheer each other on. According to Kreppel, the team has great camaraderie and spirit even during difficult times.

“I think they’ve been great, everyone’s been really supportive of each other, and they’re all out there helping, cheering during the swim meets, and everyone’s rooting each other on, and even though swimming is really painful, it’s nice to be supported by your friends to get through it,” Kreppel said.

For Kreppel, being able to see so many swimmers advance to CIF Championships was rewarding to witness as a longtime coach.

“We’ve never had that many kids go before, so I feel really lucky to have so many fast people on our team. It’s amazing, you know. Ben was a transfer student, so that was just nice to have such a fast kid just show up,” Kreppel said. “We’ve been watching Justin improve, and he said at the beginning of the season that he was going to make state, and he did, so that was really great. And Alexa just keeps continuing to improve and get faster and faster, so it’s really exciting for everybody.”

Closing out the season, Kreppel said that the team has remained a strong and supportive community.

“It was a great season. I’m really proud of everybody, you know. It’s not just the fastest people that make it part of the team, it’s the whole team coming together to support everyone, it’s what makes it so great,” Kreppel said.