Priscarla Villefranche also contributed to this article.
On January 13, 2026, Malden High’s swim team dived back into the competition to face the Lynn Classical Rams, ending their race with a win and landing a 93-71 score. Leading up to this meet, Malden had won against Somerville High.
The meet started with both teams on the sidelines, preparing to swim against each other. Before the real competition began, the swim officials asked the swim captains of both Malden and Lynn Classical to come forth to explain the basics of the meet. When the officials finished explaining the details to the captains, swimmers were ready to compete.
Starting with the 200 Medley relay, swimmers junior Weiqi Du, freshman Jaden Nguyen, sophomore Ivan Zhu, and junior Moe Emam stood alongside lane one, with Du on the diving board to start the relay off. Two lanes down from the first group of swimmers, lane three consisted of swimmers freshmen Katie Rice and Alden Deronja and senior captains Sade Huynh and Danielle Harrington, with Rice starting off the relay.
In lane five, stood swimmers sophomore Tara Villatore, freshman Vivian Zhu, junior Yingyan Xia, and sophomore Raph Kinuthia. The swim officials blew their whistles, and the starters got in diving position.
The swimmers zoomed through the water with Du, Rice and Villatore performing backstrokes, Nguyen, Deronja, and Zhu performing breaststrokes, Zhu, Huynh, and Xia swimming butterfly style, and Emam, Harrington, and Kinuthia concluding the relay with freestyles.
By the end of the 200 Medley relay, Malden won with twelve points in total, with lane three achieving the highest time of two minutes and thirteen seconds, placing them in first place. Lane one landed in second place, earning a time of two minutes and eighteen seconds, and fourth place for lane five, with a time of two minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Sophomore Ivan Zhu shared “I feel like I did well in all of them. I went average, except for the 100 fly, which I was very new to.”
The next race was the 200 Yard freestyle race, featuring swimmers sophomore Brian Pan, Du, and junior captain Sofia Evoras. As the race began, the swimmers climbed up to the diving board and as the whistle blew,all five swimmers were off. In the end, Malden beat Lynn Classical with a total of 22 points.
Then, the 200 Yard Individual Medley began, where swimmers Zhu, Deronja, and Huynh were up for the race. Bam! The whistle blows and the swimmers are off, butterfly swimming to one end, backstroke after, followed by the breaststroke, and ending the race with freestyle. By the end of the race, Malden scored 12 points in total.
Following the previous event, the 50 freestyle race began. Swimmers Nguyen, Rice, and Emam took charge of this event as they prepared for the race. Swimmers in all lanes perform any form they wish to use. By the end of this race, Malden scored six points while Lynn Classical gained 10 points.
As both teams were cleared out of the lanes, halftime began , giving swimmers time to talk to their coaches on how they did in the previous events and what they should work on next time. Coach Jessica Bisson voiced how coaches are present to ensure swimmers are doing well and offer “more support” if needed.
As halftime concluded, the swimmers were energized and ready to compete again.
As the following events: 100 Yard Butterfly, 100 Yard Freestyle, 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, 100 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Breaststroke, and finally the 400 Yard Free Relay began to take place, swimmers got their last few seconds of preparation before they took off.
By the time the 200 Freestyle Relay started, Malden had succeeded in winning the 100 Fly, where Xia placed first place, then the 100 Free, where Emam placed first, and the 500 Free, with Deronja finishing first with a time of five minutes and thirty three seconds, scoring 33 points from all three events.
With Malden ahead with 73 points overall and Lynn Classical with 36 points, the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay race unfolded, with swimmers already gliding through the water, performing their preferred styles to claim first place.
At the end of the 200 Free, Malden had secured 8 points with Lynn Classical trailing behind with their 6 points, as only Lane three was able to reach first place with a time of one minute and fifty six seconds as both Lane one and five were disqualified.
Moving on to the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, Malden had scored 12 points in the 100 Yard Breaststroke. Lynn Classical scored 12 points, bringing them to a total of 71 points overall.
By the end of the meet, Malden had won with 91 points overall and Lynn Classical with 71.
After all the swimmers were out of the pool, both Malden and Lynn Classical lined up and walked towards each other, high-fiving their competitors as a sign of good sportsmanship.
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