Congratulations to our October swimmers of the month, Sam Cohen & Claire Valva!

Sam Cohen is sixteen years old and has been on the team for over a year. Sam is autistic and is truly an inspiration to the team! Prior to joining PST Sam made a goal for himself, he wanted to join the swim team in hopes of competing on the high school swim team. Sam first began swimming with PST last year in the Green group. He worked his way up to the Blue group this fall and continues to make strides in his technique. Sam is very driven and you can often find him in the pool prior to the Blue group workout swimming laps and practicing his stroke drills. All this work has paid off, Sam competed in the practice meet at Laney College and after the success at the meet was ready for his first swim meet. Sam participated in the Alameda Swim meet and competed in two events, the 200 Free & 50 Free. We are so proud of how far Sam has come while swimming with PST and with his work ethic and focus more success is sure to come!

Claire Valva is eleven years old and swims with the Junior group. Claire has a tremendous work ethic and drive that she brings to every workout! Claire is fearless and will often take on a challenging set and give it her all regardless of the difficulty. If she falls off the interval she will keep on swimming until the set is completed without complaint. Since Claire has swim with PST year round we have seen a transformation in her fitness. She has added some impressive muscle and endurance to her swim body. Claire's fitness is due to her daily commitment to her workouts and fantastic attendance. At the Alameda meet over the weekend Claire competed in three new events the 400 IM, 200 Free & 100 fly. In the 400 IM she swam in impressive 6:21.91 which is a A time! In the 200 free and 100 fly she turned in new B times only a smidgen off the A times. Way to go Claire!