The Columbia Heights High School (CHHS) 400 relay boys’ swim team came very close to making it to state this winter). Growing every year, the Hylanders proved themselves stronger than ever this season, with a new exchange student and several other rookies joining the team.

The 400 relay team for the 2023-24 school year was composed of Daniel Abebaw (11), Luis Lorzen (11), Ameer Ait-Daoud (11) and Isacc Gyurison (12). Many of them have been swimming for a long time, but for one key swimmer, it’s his first year competing — and he did a long way from home. This is a great example of a student-athlete seeing an opportunity to try a new activity, learn something new in the process and contribute to their school in the process.

Lorzen, who is an exchange student from Spain, was so excited to swim for CHHS – he loves the sport with all his heart. However, he admits it was challenging competing alongside others with more experience, but this didn’t stop him from giving his best. 

“I think it is incredible what we have done this year, but we need to give it all in sections to have the chance to go to state,” Lorzen said in advance of the section tournament earlier this month. “I am very proud of what we have done.”

The 400 relay team is not the only highlight of the CHHS varsity boys’ swim and dive team, as this season also saw improvement and great effort from returning swimmers too, who came back to long practices and constant endurance challenges.

¨ [The] biggest challenge [is] consistency and just swimming for as long as we did,¨ Friday Lee (11) said. ¨Ḧow I deal with it just facing myself to go to practice, and I would then be forced to swim.¨  

Despite the numerous individual and group events like the 400 relay, it really is a collective effort because the whole swimming team works hard as a whole. In the end, the boys’ varsity swim and dive team had an impressive season, improved with speed and technique, and while junior Abebaw and senior Gyuerson have graduation to look forward to, this year’s juniors and underclassmen have next season to come back stronger than ever and try once again for the ultimate goal: qualifying for state.Which this team trying to make history for the swim team where they did . 

And for Lorzen, who will be returning to Spain this summer?

“It’s a thing that I enjoy here, but I don’t think that I would enjoy [swimming] back in Spain because I don’t think is gonna be the same,”  Lorzen said.