EE: Hi everyone, my name is Ritik Shenoy, and welcome back to Episode 38 of Time Out! In this series, we explore the MVHS sports scene to learn more about the journeys of our very own athletes from various sports. Today, I’m joined by Trevor Yuen to hear about his experiences with swimming.

EE: So firstly, Trevor, please introduce yourself.

TY: Hi, my name is Trevor Yuen. I’m in 10th grade and my swim styles are freestyle and butterfly.

EE: What is your background in swimming?

TY: I started to swim when I was 7-years-old. I first started with Peak Swimming. After that team was shut down, I moved to Santa Clara Swim Club in 2021. And then I stayed with them for three years until I moved to De Anza Cupertino Aquatics. And I still swim with DACA today.

EE: How did you originally get into swimming?

TY: Well, I first originally got into swimming because after my mom saw how successful my older sister was in swim, she decided to also put me into swim. It’s a little rough for the first few years because the water is cold, it’s always at night, it’s outside and when you go home, after you take a shower, you just reek of chlorine. I didn’t really see any value in it at first. After being in Peak and SCSC, I didn’t really like it. But then, when I first joined DACA, the sport was taken less seriously and I could incorporate myself into the team. The coach is always cracking jokes to us and us being able to splash each other while he’s explaining sets was a lot more fun.

EE: Do you play or did you play any sports now or before you started swimming?

TY: I did soccer for a year before I did swim, but I wasn’t really good at it because I didn’t understand the fundamentals of how you play soccer. After that, I did swim, of course, but then when I went into MVHS, I did MVHS Water Polo.

EE: How does a typical practice day look like for you?

TY: I go to the pool at 4 p.m. and then we do something called “dry land,” where we do some land exercises before we get into the water. And that would take 20 minutes. And then when we get into the water, we have a warmup set that’s usually 30 laps, and then he tells us a kick set and then it’s a couple more laps, and then he gives us the main set, which is a lot longer. And after we do the main set, it’s usually a pool set or just a warm-down, then we get out of the pool at around 6:15 p.m. So it’s a 2-hour and 15-minute session.

EE: What would you say is one of your favorite memories competing in swimming?

TY: My favorite memories from competing in swimming are definitely the friends that I’ve made in swim. Some of these friends are actually in MVHS right now. Some of them are in other schools, but occasionally I would see them in water polo. Knowing them from school lets me talk to them a little more school-related, so I can relate to them more. And sometimes my swimmates are also doing projects with me at school, so I can still talk to them about a project while we swim.

EE: How has swimming shaped you as a person?

TY: Physically, I can endure more exercises, but mentally, I’ve gotten to understand – to make peace with myself with swim – and just do swim.

EE: What would you say is the hardest part of swimming for you?

TY: The hardest part of swimming is just getting in the water. Because the sets are going to be hard, it’s going to take a long time and I just have to wait it out and just do my best. I just do it for the exercise of swim, not for the competitiveness.

EE: What are some of your goals for swimming in the future?

TY: Get faster, get a CCS time for the school and also achieve maybe a sectional.

EE: Do you plan to swim in college and beyond or just high school?

TY: I think after high school, I would just stop doing swim. In college, I’ll probably just go to a gym or something and lift weights. Swimming is something I would just expand from and then learn something else in the future.

EE: What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out swimming?

TY: If you don’t like it in the first few months, then you probably should just try a different sport because I understand why you would hate it. If you still like swimming, stay in it, because it’s just that the friends and the coaches make swimming enjoyable.

EE: That’s all for Episode 38 of Time Out! Thanks for tuning in.

Music credit: “Once In Paris” by Pumpupthemind on Pixabay | Used with permission