For the first time in five years, Anzar High School has a swim team—and while their meet record is a little uneven, swimmer for swimmer, it stacks up well against any team in the league. Considering Anzar only has 270 students and only 15 of them are on the swim team, it has racked up impressive wins against larger schools, such as Watsonville High and its 2,400 students, which can field much larger teams.
“We are the tiniest school in our league,” said head coach Larry Willis. “Sometimes by as much as 10 to 1. There are certain events at meets we can’t compete in, so we are losing some points that way. But considering the size of our team and this being our first year to have one in a while, we are doing great.”
Willis coached at Santa Cruz High School and at private clubs in San Jose but the YMCA turned out to be his introduction to Anzar when two students he coached there told him that if he would come to their school, they could finally have a team again.
He was immediately struck with a problem. Anzar has no pool, which meant searching for a place to practice. The students have been using the Watsonville High pool. Though it’s further away than the Hollister High pool, it’s a better choice since most of his team lives in Aromas.
“Transportation can be a problem at times,” he said. “But it has been no problem at all motivating these kids to show up.”
One of the YMCA swimmers who coaxed Willis to coach at Aromas is freshman Ava Kapadia, 15, who he says is “a real hard worker with a great attitude who helps create a positive attitude for the team.”
Kapadia competes in the 200- and 500-meter races, the 50-meter butterfly relay and the 100- and 400-meter freestyle relays in every swim meet.
“You just have to pace yourself,” she said. “I try not to use all my energy and then once it gets down to the last four laps, I speed up and even if I’m tired, I just go fast. I love that feeling of rushing through the water.” Kapadia started swimming when she was six years old and worked with Willis for years before they both came to Anzar this school year.
“Larry is a really good coach,” she said. “He motivates us and cheers us along. He always has a good attitude and he just makes me want to practice and work hard for the team. I also have to give credit to my parents, who believe in me and motivate me as well.”
Willis singled out the team captain, senior Max Castro, for praise, saying, “Max has already proven himself in football and on our basketball team that took the league championship. He is a great athlete and we are really happy to have him.”
Castro, 17, took a break from baseball this year, joining the swim team for the first time, taking on freestyle and backstroke events. Castro said he was interested in swimming for the cardio workouts.
“I am still getting used to how it goes,” he said. “I swam when I was younger, for fun but I really wanted to try it out because I have never done it competitively. It’s really hard because there have been a lot of events we can’t participate in because of our lack of numbers. But we try to do as many as we can. And it is still fun to compete in the events.”
Castro said that swimming would probably be a one-time thing, as he wants to pursue football and basketball in college. But he has enjoyed the rigors of the sport.
“I’m starting to like it more and more every time we have a meet,” he said. “It is really a mental game, because you can get so tired. You need to breathe but you still have to keep going. But I know how far I have come since starting and I can see all of my improvements.”
The team has had four meets so far, with the boys winning two and the girls winning one. Only two meets are left for the team, with the next being a home meet at Watsonville High against Soledad High at 3:30 p.m. on March 31, followed by a final conference meet against Marina, Trinity and Seaside high schools on April 15, also at 3:30 p.m.
Willis, however, is already looking forward to next year, when he hopes to add more swimmers to strengthen the team.
“Max is our only graduating senior,” he said. “So, we should get 14 of the 15 back again. Nine of the kids on the team this year are freshmen and they have been excellent. So, if we can add nine freshmen each year, we will be set. I think our prospects for the next three years are very good.”
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