Having to swim in the rain again was not an enjoyable experience, but the bond that they made during the weekend was all worthwhile for the men’s and women’s swimming team members.

The Warriors will swim for the first time at L.A. Trade Tech where they will compete against the host Beavers and the Long Beach City Vikings.

“Both men and women teams are favored to beat L.A. Trade Tech,” coach Corey Stanbury said.

While the Beavers do not seem to be a problem for the Warriors, the Vikings could be a harder team to compete with.

“On the women’s side, Long Beach City is favorite to win,” Stanbury said. “For the men, it should be interesting because of how close the two teams are competitive wise.”

Stanbury is trying to find a technique that can give his men’s team an extra edge over Long Beach City.

“I’ll look at their last dual meet and I will try to find a weakness that will help us win against them,” Stanbury said.

While Stanbury is looking at tapes of the upcoming competitions, the Warriors are at practice working hard on improving their times.

“We are going to do well in the meet because we have been working hard,” Heather Mohle said.

Friday and Saturday the Warriors headed north for the Cuesta Invitational, where the weather became a determining factor for them once again.

“It was cold and raining and it makes it hard to swim because our bodies get numb and it’s hard to get used to jumping in the cold water when your body is warm,” Mohle said.

The weather was the opposite of what swimmers were hoping for at the invitational.

“The weather made it difficult to swim in,” Stanbury said.

Sunny skies, warm air and the absence of rain are optimal conditions for swimmers as they prepare to enter the pool for a race.

“It was cold out there; all the conditions you look for in a great swim meet were not there,” DeForest Kirkwood said.

Competing in the rain was a new experience for Kirkwood, who is in his first year of swimming.

“It was weird for me, especially in the backstroke because you have to keep your attention on the race while the rain hits your face,” Kirkwood said.

Warming-up also became a problem for the swimmers.

“It’s also hard to warm-up in the pool, then have to get out and get cold again right before your race,’ Kirkwood said.

The rainy weather affected the swimmers because of all the extra obstacles that face them when their body is cold.

“When the muscles get tight, like in every sport, your performance gets affected,” Stanbury said.

A group of Warriors had a strong performance at the invitational.

The invitational hosted some of what are considered to be the best swimmers in the state.

“Ashley Stanbury, Nicole Yamashita, Kellie Lancaster and Kelly Suk did well and impressed me,” Stanbury said. “For the men, Matt Briggs and Matt Pifer swam well.”

Briggs turned in a personal best in the 200-meter free style with a time of 1:54.

“Briggs had an outstanding meet and to swim like that in the rain was something very impressive,” Stanbury said.

The swimmers were not the only ones who did well during the invitational as the divers had a good performance.

“The divers did really well, Adam Vore took twelfth in the three-meter, and Wendell Perkins took second in the three-meter and first in the one-meter dives,” Stanbury said.

Female diver Dana Dungansteen was unable to compete because of a bad shoulder.

“Her shoulder hurts her and we are not going to let her dive on it until it has completly healed,” Stanbury said.

Other than getting to swim against some good competition at Cuesta, the Warriors had a lot of quality time to spend with each other.