On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, Berkeley High School hosted Alameda High School for their first swim meet of the season. The pool deck was packed with spectators, family, and teammates all jostling for a view to cheer the swimmers on. In high school swim meets, points are awarded based on each team's placement in each event – the winning school being determined by their cumulative points. Over several hours many Berkeley swimmers swam their personal best against Alameda, with Berkeley scoring the highest in the races, some of the competed races include: Women's 100 yard Butterfly, Men's 200 yard Freestyle and the Men's 200 Medley Relay. Despite Alameda’s win as a result of more overall collected points, many Berkeley swimmers chose to focus on other key takeaways from Wednesday night's event – excitement for the upcoming season and pride for the team's sportsmanship.
BHS’s girl’s varsity captain Adriana Ovalle Rojas said she was losing her voice from supporting her teammates so loudly. “I see a lot of people cheering everybody on and that makes me so happy … I see all my swimmers cheering for each other and being so supportive and that is the kind of community I want to create on this team,” Ovalle Rojas said.
Mabel McLeod, a freshman on girls varsity swimming, remarked on the team camaraderie that has already been growing. “The community is really strong…I think we're going to help support each other and have a good season,” McLeod said. She also talked about her experience as a freshman on varsity, and how all the swimmers have created a welcoming community, "I'm really excited for upcoming years,” McLeod added.
Following one of his hardest events, the 200 yard freestyle, Jasper Jennings-Koo, a sophomore on boys varsity, swam his own personal best and said that he felt “pretty hyped” for the swim meet and upcoming season. Jennings highlighted his coaches, “They're all awesome, they give really great advice … I’m still getting these little tips for my strokes and it really does help.” As the swim season continues Jennings looks forward to the West Alameda County Conference at the end of the year, expressing his excitement to show everyone what he's got and continuing to improve his time.
Numerous hours go into athletes working on their form and speed in an individual effort to prepare for races in the water. Even so, the pool deck at BHS is all about building each other up. You can catch BHS’s next home meet on Friday, March 27, 2026.