Back Again: The Penguins Win City Champs for the Second Year in a Row

On a mild Thursday evening on November 14, the Penguins, Stuyvesant’s girls’ swim team, traveled to Lehman College to face Brooklyn Tech at the Playoff Finals. The Penguins had won the PSAL City Championships for the 2023/24 season, but despite their immense success, it was still a pleasant surprise for some of the members to win the City Championships again this year. Their ultimate victory was augmented by this year’s difficult competition, as the Penguins swam and defeated their biggest division competition, the Seward Park Bears, twice this regular season. “They’re a school that has several different schools into one… which is a good challenge. I like that it keeps the girls motivated,” Coach Alan Zhu said. Their first meet against Seward Park was also their first meet of the season, which the Penguins won by a slim margin of 52-45. 

To many members of the team, this season had a rather frustrating opening. It took some adjustment to get back into the swing of the rigorous practice schedule. These daily practices run for two hours. During these two hours, the girls typically start with an 800-yard warm up followed by varying training exercises that focus on distance, sprints, and resistance. On Wednesdays and Fridays, the team can be found in the weight room for an hour before they even begin practice in the pool. “It was a little hard getting used to going home so late, which means homework only starts after eight—otherwise it’s all good,” sophomore Margaret Castiglia said. 

The Penguins were also rather disappointed by the results of their seeding meet, which they placed first in last year, but placed second in this year. This was especially important for the team, as they hoped that with first seed, they wouldn’t have to face Seward Park again until the finals meet in Playoffs. They ended up facing Seward in the semi-finals as opposed to the finals, and still had to do quite a bit of preparation for their second meet against the swimming powerhouse.

Already nervous following the results of their last meet against Seward, to add extra difficulty, this second meet was in Seward’s pool which doesn’t have the diving blocks that the Penguins are used to. Not having diving blocks also meant that the girls couldn’t have the divers compete, which usually allows them to score some extra points. The team dedicated several days to practicing diving off of the floor in order to help the Penguins grow more accustomed to this new style. “The girls had to adapt, but they came out for the win,” Coach Zhu said.

Despite the odds seemingly having been stacked against them, the girls trusted their training. The second meet was even more challenging, with a narrower margin, a 49-45 Penguins victory. Up until the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Seward Park team was in the lead. It’s easy to imagine the sigh of relief upon the Penguins placing first and second and winning the meet. 

Following this close win, Stuyvesant continued to the semi-finals, swimming against Fort Hamilton and Seward Park again. Their meet against Seward ended up being one of the best meets of the season. Many swimmers broke their personal records, which was likely aided by a strategy Coach Zhu implemented called tapering. This means going easier during practice before an important meet in order to feel more well-rested and perform better during the meet. 

The Penguins went on to defend their City Champions title against the Brooklyn Tech Engineers, beating them once again. “I’m so so proud of the team. We were all jumping, hugging, and screaming. It was a mix of joy, relief, and pride. Definitely a lot of relief that we were able to defend our city champs title. All the long practices and brutal sets really paid off,” senior and captain Josephine Yoo said. 

Their hard work and dedication definitely paid off as the girls were undefeated both this year and last year, winning the Division A Championship Meet A. This is the fourth year in a row that they’ve won this title. In addition, the team sent eight girls to the state championship. 

The Penguins have a large senior population, with 13 Penguins in the 2025 graduating class. This means the team will look quite different next year. Coach Zhu made it a focus to recruit freshmen this season with nine joining the team. One of these freshmen, Valeria Bronskikh, was part of the team that broke the school record for the 200-meter free Medley Relay at their semi-finals meet against Seward Park. Bronskikh joined the seven other girls that went on to states.

“The seniors this year are very great, they showed great initiative. Even the non-captains really mentored the younger girls. Showed them what to do on the team, how to cheer on each other, be positive,” Coach Zhu said. Though the seniors will be missed, it’s clear that the team is in good hands.