The swim caps and suits went on and the Cal State East Bay’s women’s swim team stepped out onto the warm pavement, stretching out before entering the pool for their daily practice. “Let’s rock and roll, ladies!” yelled their coach, Shane Pelton.

It’s sunny in the afternoons and cold in the mornings at swim practice. There’s music playing, which seems to go well with the rhythm and flow of the swimmers. The team jumps around and sways their arms with high energy as they warm-up while laughing and talking.

The Cal State East Bay’s women’s swim team season started out the 2017-18 season with a few bumps in the road; their first two scheduled meets were cancelled. However, this just bought them more time to prepare for the A3 performance invite against San Diego State and nine other schools on Nov. 15.

“Last season was good,” stated third-year swimmer, Jande Monteon. “We got two completely different coaches, so getting use to their training style was different.”

The two new coaches, Pelton and Assistant Coach Lauren Clifford, took six team members to Nationals last season, ranking fifteenth in the country. Two swimmers on the team, Claire Beaty and Morgan McClure, went to finals at Nationals which led them to receive the All-American award at the end of their season.

This season, the team got six new swimmers who have filled the holes of the swimmers who left last season. Even with the two cancelled meets, the team still seemed to be in high spirits.

“They’re hungry to race,” said Pelton. “We’re off to a strong start. We haven’t had too many opportunities to race. There’s a lot of potential and they’ve been working hard.”

McClure, team captain, broke four records last year and received awards in the 200 backstroke, 100, 200 and 400 individual medley. She talked to me about the hard work the team has been doing while training this season.

“We’ve been doing workouts that are unique to us,” stated McClure. “We’re pretty confident. We feel mentally and physically prepared and trust our coaches.”

Although Pelton described the sport as individualistic, discussed how the team builds off of each other’s energy.

“Fast swimming is contagious,” said Pelton.

With good results from last year, and seeing the hard work that has already been put in this year, it will be exciting to see how far the team can go this season. Their next home meet will not be until Jan. 12, 2018 against San Jose State.