On Saturday, September 10, it was an early start for the Freedom Swim Team which had to arrive at 7 a.m. in South Tampa for City Relays, one of the biggest meets of the season. This meet includes every school in the city of Tampa.

“I was shocked by the amount of people there!” said Jared Klay, 11. “I even saw some people I knew from elementary and middle school.”

The meet was composed entirely of relay races, so everyone was able to swim. One of the biggest parts of City Relays is the element of team spirit. Schools came to the pool prepared with cheers and coordinated outfits. Besides all the fun, the competition was tight. Boys placed 7^th overall at the meet out of 26 schools. The girls picked up 8^th place. Their 200-yard freestyle relay got 4th in all of the city. The team was composed of Esel Ro, 10, Miranda Lippus, 12, Genevieve Clark, 11, and Abbi Leisure, 9.

“It was a great experience. There are definitely things learned from this meet to know for the big meets further in the season,” said Sophomore Esel Ro.

Some swimmers were thrilled to see their results and even set personal best times in their events.

“The results of this meet give us a good idea of how we’re going to do in the rest of the season,” said Tiernan Noll, 12. “There are definitely some schools to watch out for.”

Everyone was satisfied with their performance and the school spirit displayed was a great testament to the swim team’s Patriot Pride.