Written by: Ariel Connell, staff writer
What is Poly’s most accomplished swimmer, Ava DeAnda, really about?
When you are out on that pool deck and hear the name “Ava DeAnda”, everyone turns to watch her. There is no doubt that her name reverberates all through Poly’s campus. The swimmer holds seven Poly swim records all before her senior year. She even holds a CIF meet record for the 100 freestyle, with 48.27 seconds.
For those unaware, Poly’s swim team is extremely competitive. With over 70 students, students quickly get hyped up and the meets get crowded fast as the bleachers fill up. Swimming is a sport where “you cannot just skip a practice; No matter how hard you want to quit, you have to keep going or you’ll never improve,” says Ava.
Although she has plenty of natural talent, much of her success can be credited to her dedication and determination. Ava started swimming when she was eleven years old, which has enabled her to become an experienced and seasoned athlete. She explains that she has “done summer league for as long as [she] can remember” before even beginning to officially hone her skills. Without even needing to see her in the water, it is clear as day to see her passion for swimming and her resolve for excellence.
With so much time invested already into swimming, it is no surprise that Ava wants to compete on a professional level. When asked what her future goals are, she expressed that she plans on swimming for the University of California, Berkeley, after high school and that she wishes to join a national team or to even get accepted into the Olympic trials later in life. She also would love to break a state national record if given the chance, but she has her eyes on the Division 1 State record. Currently, past Olympian Abbey Weitzeil holds the record for the 100 free style in California with a time of 47.09 seconds. Although that is an extraordinarily fast time, Ava has her goals set high to achieve excellence. Despite the challenge of shaving off more than 1.20 seconds from her current best, she will have the opportunity to beat Weitzeil’s record this year at the state competition in May 2026. All she needs to do is to continue to work and practice hard to reduce her personal best millisecond by millisecond.
To anyone currently struggling with swimming, Ava advises to keep pushing despite the challenges. “It [does get] hard to show up everyday, but as long as you keep showing up the love for the sport just comes with it.” For her fellow swimmers, Ava also advises to eat before swimming. She feels that it is imperative to “eat, especially protein, [since] it is so easy to get a cramp when you swim and a lot of the time it is going to be because you haven’t eaten.”
To Ava, the community is easily the best part about swimming. Despite being extremely competitive, the Poly swim team is also very tight-knit, and the community at RAA, where Ava trains separately from the rest of the team at school, “is also very supportive.” On the contrary, the hardest parts of swimming for her are “those days [when it] gets really rough; when you just do not want to keep going but you have to stay consistent. The mental stuff is really just the hardest part.” Even through these hardships and the challenges she has faced, she continues to only improve her craft. There is no doubt that Ava is going to continue to accomplish great things this year; hopefully she achieves one of her goals of breaking a state record at this year’s CIF championships. Either way, what Ava has done in high school is truly remarkable and all her fellow bears are extremely proud of her hard work and accomplishments.
