Hours after the school day has ended, over 50 Riordan students lug their backpacks down to the City College pool. They put on their swimsuits, strap on their caps and goggles, and get into the pool’s clear, chlorinated water.
At just 15, Quiana Wei ’27 has already been swimming for over a decade. “I started when I was around 3 or 4,” she said. “My mom did kinda push me into it back then, but I’ve really come to like it.”
For Wei and many of her fellow swimmers, the pool has been a place to clear their heads and challenge themselves.
Even when things are tough, Wei finds peace in the water. “You can be really calm in the water. It’s really quiet in the water while you swim, you can really just think your own thoughts and think about your life. It really just calms my emotions.”
Shannon Moran, RSP coordinator and swim coach, has also long had a love for the pool. She started swimming from a young age, swimming and playing water polo competitively through high school and college.
On becoming a coach, Moran said, “I still love to swim, just for fitness, just for myself, but I wanted a way to connect with the students outside the ones I work with in RSP and in R-Time.”
Moran said even her absolute beginners in the pool consistently show themselves how strong they are. “I love seeing kids who don’t have much swimming experience find that they can be successful in this sport and really improve over time. Swimming is an individual sport, so it doesn’t really matter who’s in the rest of your heat as long as you improve your own time.”
On the lengthy drives to swim meets all around the Bay Area, the team comes together. “At meets we have a really close team, especially when we cheer for each other and especially on the long bus rides. We have the loudspeakers at the back playing music, and everybody sings along to them.”
After a challenging race and with music blaring from the back, students from all over Riordan come together and form friendships.
Yzabelle Martinez ’28 added, “It feels like we’ve become like a family, and I haven’t known them that long, but as a team we’ve just really become close.”
While the whole team is looking forward to WCAL playoffs in a few weeks, four swimmers are preparing for the highly competitive Central Coast Selection (CCS) competition. The four varsity boys: Jack West ’25, Marco Mancinetti ’25, Mason Rabbetz ’27, and Jonathan Pangilinan ’28, qualified for the medley relay at the SI meet. And then again at the Mitty meet, the same four qualified for the 200 freestyle relay.
As they look forward to the rest of the season, Coach Moran reminds her swimmers to continue working hard so they can keep swimming their best, saying, “You really have to be consistent and go to every single practice. It’s not just a sport where you can just show up and race, you really have to be consistent, show that commitment.”
