By Jessica Jimenez — Reporter
San Jose State senior swimmers never thought that their final swim championships of their athletic career would end because of a virus. But it did.
The unexpected ending was due to the NCAA cancelling all sports because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Swimmers flew to Cleveland, Ohio for a three-day National Invitational Championship, but the meet ended just after the first day of competition.
For senior Gabby Heng, flying to Cleveland left her with conflicting emotions.
“I was happy and grateful for the chance to compete and represent my school in the postseason,” Heng said. “But I was sad that this would be my last meet as a college athlete.”
Prior to flying, meet officials were in talks of cancelling the championships and announced there would just be no spectators allowed.
Senior Kate Hanf set her feelings aside as the meet might be called off because other teams had already flown.
“I was preparing myself to treat this last meet like any other; to just go out there and be the best athlete I could be,” Hanf said.
Senior Erin Wayman felt several emotions going into championships for the first and final time: sad, excited and nervous.
“Going into a meet knowing that it is your last is hard to wrap your head around,” Wayman said.
She was skeptical that the meet would continue once she heard SJSU’s campus was closing, and when professional sports seasons and concerts were quickly being canceled too.
As soon as the officials made the announcement to stop the championship many swimmers were devastated.
A few weeks prior, Heng gave her all at the Mountain West Conference Championships but was not finished representing her team.
“I felt like I was robbed of my celebration,” said Heng. “Going through the full duration of a multiple-day meet is grueling physically and mentally, and the last day of a meet is where we can show how willing and ready we are to out-suffer our opponents.
Hanf and her teammates were bummed particularly for the seniors who did not get an individual race at the meet. All of the coaches agreed to let every senior swimmer participate in their final collegiate relays.
“No one cared about the time, or the place we got; we were just there to race, have fun, and to cheer each other on,” Hanf said. “That feeling is what made me fall in love with the sport 17 years ago.”
For Wayman, being given the opportunity to travel to a new city and compete with her team against other swim programs was special.
“Just being able to say that I qualified and got to go even for one day was all I could ask for given the circumstances,” she said.
The seniors collectively agree that the team could’ve gone further in the meet if it wasn’t cut short. The point score was kept close between all teams competing.
Although their shining-moment ended abruptly, they felt that the NCAA cancelling all sports was the right thing to do.
Hanf insists that in order for the curve to flatten the pandemic, everyone has to make sacrifices for the greater good.
“My heart goes out to the spring sports, but especially the seniors in those sports that had their season cut so unexpectedly,” Wayman said.
Due to swimming and diving falling under a winter sport, they do not receive an extra year of eligibility.
Heng and her teammates saw their regular season all the way through and felt confident in what they had accomplished.
“Life is unpredictable, and things happen that are out of our control,” Hanf said. “I know that my success at this one meet does not define my entire success as an athlete.”
She is one of the seniors who has come to terms with the end of her swimming career.
The team is continuing to do dryland training while under the shelter-in-place order to stay in shape when they return to swim even when their SJSU athletic career is over.
Swimming never stops, it’s an all-year-round sport.
Wayman runs one to three miles a day while doing core and yoga to work on her flexibility.
“Collectively, the team is doing morning zoom workouts to stay connected and stay strong together,” Wayman said.
As soon as the shelter-in-place order is lifted, senior swimmers and their teammates are jumping back in the pool.
Quarantined for weeks, Hanf says getting back in the pool is at the top of the list now more than ever.
“I didn’t realize how much I would miss diving into a pool, breaking the surface, and taking those first few strokes at the start of a workout,” she said
Training 20 hours a week in the water to currently zero hours is a complete shock to the body and Heng is going to ease her way in.
“Nothing like the training that I was doing with the team but getting in and doing 45 minutes to an hour of swimming laps is a really simple, familiar, and low impact way of staying in shape,” Heng said.
After the swim team had been deprived of competing on campus for three years, this 2019-2020 season of swimming in the new Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center was one the seniors will never forget.
Follow Jessica on Twitter @jessicajim06
