Archer varsity swim team wins Liberty League for second year

Saskia Wong-Smith ’18 swims in a race. Wong-Smith set multiple league records and broke five school records. Photo courtesy of Wong-Smith ’18.


Walking into the UCLA student activity pool center, the smell of chlorine and cheers can be heard all the way at the door. Parents mingle, talking about the great swimmers and their confidence in Archer winning.

On May 4, the undefeated Archer varsity swim team won a second consecutive Liberty League Championship. Archer dominated the competition, setting a league record of 334 points.

Archer varsity swim team seniors celebrating senior night. At that meet, Archer defeated Buckley for a league championship. From left to right: Shelby Mumford '16 and Kimia Khatibi '16.
Swim seniors, Shelby Mumford and Kimia Khatibi, smile after a meet. Archer defeated Buckley for a league championship. Photo courtesy of Wong-Smith ’18.

Senior captains Shelby Mumford and Kimia Khatibi led their team to victory. The meet also marked the team’s annual Senior Night.

“I loved their pep talks. They always cracked me up and encouraged me to swim my best. Kimia and Shelby both had incredible spirits and spunk that will absolutely be missed next year,” swimmer Claire Bardin ’18 said.

Summer de Vera ’18 set a league record in the 50-meter freestyle.

Claire Germano ’18 also set a league record in the 100-meter backstroke.

Saskia Wong Smith ’18 set a school and league record for the 100-meter butterfly. She also set a school record for the 100-meter free and the 200-meter individual medley. 

The 200-medley relay team — made up of de Vera, Germano, Kelsey Mumford ’19 and Wong-swim results infographicSmith — and the 400 freestyle relay team — de Vera, Germano, Hannah Park ’19 and Wong-Smith — also set school records.

This year, seven swimmers qualified for CIF-SS Division 4 prelims: Bardin, de Vera, Germano, Mari Goldberg ’17, Mumford, Park, and Wong-Smith.

“We brought the most amount of swimmers ever to CIFs this year, and that was huge for us,” Ferri said. “The fact that we were able to get ninth out of 45 teams with only five swimmers [in CIF finals] was really awesome.”