Ari Luman represented Central Valley’s boys swim program and the Western Athletic Conference at the Sac-Joaquin Section Championships earlier this month at Woodcreek High School.
The standout sophomore placed 11th in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 free while competing at the section meet for the first time.
“This is the first time CV has had a swimmer qualify for the Section Meet,” Hawks’ head coach Cristina Rocha said. “He was the only swimmer in all of league to compete in the Finals, and he proudly represented the WAC.”
“I knew the competition was going to be really tough,” Luman added. “I’m happy with how I did.”
Luman posted times of 21.13 and 51.33 in the 50 free and 100 free, respectively, in the frosh-soph finals on May 8.
He turned in a career-best time in the 50 free.
Luman finished 11th in both the 50 free (23.15) and 100 free (50.60) in the preliminaries on May 7.
He set personal records in both events.
“I improved my 100 free time by five seconds and 50 free by almost two seconds,” Luman said. “I did a lot better than I thought I’d do.”
Luman had plenty of motivation heading into his sophomore season.
“I missed sections freshman year by .15 seconds in the 100 free,” he said.
Luman posted section-qualifying times in the 100 free and 50 free at the varsity and frosh-soph levels this spring.
He placed first in the 100 free and second in the 50 free at the WAC finals.
He finished second in 100 free and sixth in 50 free freshman year.
“Seeing all of your work pay off is very satisfying,” Luman said.
“When the competition is tougher, I do better,” he added.
Luman made a name for himself in just his second year of swimming.
“I’m satisfied,” he said. “I’m pretty surprised with how much better I’ve gotten. It makes me put my goals a little bit higher. I’m looking forward to doing better next year. I want to start doing other events because it looks better for college.”
Luman has aspirations to compete at the next level.
“I am so very proud of him and his achievements this season,” Rocha said. “He’s an up-and-coming competitor and I am excited for next season.”
