The air in the YMCA is scented with chlorine that immediately hits the crowd. There is a sudden eruption of applause and laughter, which with one glance from the stands to the pool, a brash yellow meets the eye embellished with the red, white and blue. 

All of this strays from the ordinary for a swim meet.  The longer one stares, the vivid hues turn into swimmers mounted utop sizable inflatable ducks with ‘captains’ wearing wrestling capes.

Quickly, Coppell High School swim coach Amanda Ross announces that the “Mixed 2 x 25 Yard Freestyle Captain Duck Race Relay” is beginning and the pool is silent with only the sounds of brisk splashes of the captains as they push inflatable ducks and their partners forward. 

The first to the finish line in the event is senior Scott Moyer, who employed tactics of headbutting the duck forward in combination with the breaststroke. 

This event is only one of the many out-of-the-ordinary events that the Vaquero Battle presents. The Vaquero Battle is an intrasquad swim meet, showcasing the talented swimmers, the sport, entertain the guests and special to this year, honor survivors and fighters of breast cancer. It also put forth relay races, traditional swim events and competitions that paired students with teachers. 

For Instance, in the Teacher Suited Relay, students were partnered with some of their favorite CHS teachers, including chemistry teacher Sorelle Kimball and AP U.S. history teacher Joshua Chanin, where they retrieved ping pong balls of colors respective to their team. These ping pong balls, layed out sparsely across the pool, had letters on them that spelled a word that the teacher had to assemble once their swimmer had procured each ball. The winner, in this case, was Kimball and partner sophomore Sean Li.

Li also views the Vaquero Battle as an opportunity to unite the team and boost its morale for the rest of the season.

“I feel like [the Vaquero Battle] connected us and improved our team chemistry,” Li said. “My team was very supportive of me and cheered me on.”

The encouragement and cheers from teammates were highlights of the night along with some personal best times. Junior swimmer Jonathan Ting is encouraged by his team’s times at this early stage of the season. 

“To see a lot of my teammates go best times this early shows a lot of promise for the [future] of the season,” junior Jonathan Ting said. “We have never really had the whole team come together until the Vaquero Battle.”

And it was the newfound unity of the team that contributed to the light and enjoyable atmosphere within the Coppell YMCA Monday evening. The stands were filled with parents, students and teachers washed in pink to support the cause, and, for the crowd. the friendly competition and support displayed by the swim team rendered large smiles and a captivating experience. 

There was always cheering, whether it be during the 100-yard breaststroke or the cannonball contest, the energy was positive and engaging, even for the youth as some students were given the chance to judge diving as well as the cannonball contest. 

“It felt great seeing a lot of my former students and current students competing and seeing them in their happy place,” CHS9 algebra 1 teacher William Harrington said. “Just seeing the kids have fun, not worrying about competition and just organically being kids especially after the past couple of years” was his favorite part. 

The lighthearted energy of the team radiated throughout the YMCA, which was a positive shift that contrasted with the often empty stands within the past year. 

“It looks like [the swimmers] had a lot of fun, which was nice to see,” parent Mary Kansora said. “Just watching them all in the pool, doing their cheer, and just watching their enthusiasm was really great”.

The team looks forward to taking on future intersquad meets with the stronger front that they cultivated throughout the evening.