For the first time in history, the California Interscholastic Federation [CIF] will be hosting a state championship meet for swimming, and members of the Campolindo team plan to attend.
According to athletic director Tom Renno, “not all sports that are in CIF have a state championship. For example, tennis doesn’t have a state championship [and] boy’s volleyball only goes to NorCals.”
The process for having a state championship for swimming included a diverse array of high school athletic directors meeting from all over California. “So it was voted on a year or two ago that they create a state championship for swimming, which is very exciting because we have many athletes who will be able to compete at another high level. There was a proposal for the swim championship to go the state level and it was approved,” Renno explained.
Junior Katie Erickson anticipates that this opportunity will bring new challenges. “There’ll be a little bit more pressure, and we”ll definitely have to step up but I think we’re at that level and we can pull it off. I’m super excited. I feel like it will be really fun and just a great opportunity to race more people and a new experience,” she said.
Renno said the swimming program “has had a long tradition of excellence here at Campolindo, both at NCS and also with swim meets around the state. At the national level, we’ve produced a lot of good swimmers over the years.”
According to Renno, the CIF is still working on the logistics for this historic event. “I think that’s what’s going to be exciting to see is given that this is the first there’s a lot of excitement about that about the new opportunity,” he explained.
“It’s an extra weekend meet. It will extend [the season] by at least a week for those athletes,” Renno said.
Renno believes head coach Ron Heidary, and his staff, will be sending athletes to the inaugural event. “Our coaches do a great job of training our athletes. Obviously the coaches will have to prepare athletes that will be competing at the state level to be able to do their best at the state meet. we have great coaches though. They’ll be able to get our athletes ready for it,” he explained.
Renno added, “It’s a new exciting opportunity for our kids and something that we should be excited about.”
