Charlotte Reis is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Edge High School for AZPreps365.com.

BUCKEYE – “You are going to win for yourself! Not for everyone else!”

These words of advice were echoed by Desert Edge’s swim coach Kwanichok Tate on Thursday as the sun set on the Scorpions’ meet against Buckeye Union, Central and Youngker. Desert Edge finished second place with 79 points among the four schools, but she could not be prouder of the team.=

“We did win today,” Tate said. “Because they practiced hard every day last week.”

The Desert Edge swim team only has 12 swimmers — four on the girls team and eight on the boys team. These swimmers had no previous swimming experience and learned how to swim from Tate. 

“The hardest part is how to take breaths with the face in the water, because of coughing in the water,” Tate said. “You have to go step by step with them.”

But as they showed improvement, the team kept up with training, even over the fall break.

“They swam over 2,000 meters during the fall break,” Tate said. “All the strokes, everything, was perfect, how I wanted.”

Then the drop in times followed. In the 100-meter freestyle, sophomore Ezekiel Aguilar went from a personal record of one minute, 34 seconds to 1:14, and sophomore Alexander Vasquez dropped 17 seconds to 1:06.

“It shows how I was practicing strong and it got me there, so I’m happy about that,” Aguilar said. 

Senior Kendra Burger, who only started swimming last year, finished the 200-meter freestyle in 3:24. Junior Mia Sanchez finished in 3:09. 

In one of the most difficult strokes, the butterfly, junior captain Zavier Thomas improved his time from 1:47 to 1:37 in the 100-meter event. After having an initial personal record of 2:10 at the start of the season, Thomas said his times decreased the more his technique improved.

“My biggest issue was my timing, when you're supposed to do your dolphin kicks and then your arms,” Thomas said. “They [Tate] helped me realize how to sync them both.”

After swimming professionally in Thailand, Tate’s love for the sport continued through coaching. Her 35-year career as a coach spans from club swimming, high school swimming and training adults for Ironman competitions. But Desert Edge posed a new challenge for her.

“When I look at Desert Edge, they’ve [the swimmers] been learning how to swim, and it's hard to find a coach,” Tate said. “I chose Desert Edge because I would like to help the kids, teach them how to grow.”

Her love of the sport has shown through her swimmers, as their faces lit up every time they garnered a new personal record. Between events, teammates laughed and supported one another before they went back to the boards.

“All of our personalities are mixed together and that's what makes us, the swim team,” sophomore captain Maya Flores said. “We cheer each other on. We make sure we don't feel down anytime.”

“My teammates push me a lot, they tell me to keep my head if I do bad,” Aguilar said.

Finishing second place against schools with club swimmers was a win for the Scorpions on Thursday. But for Tate, her biggest achievement at the meet was the bond it created.

“We’re like a family,” Tate said. “I'm proud of them for swimming for Desert Edge.”