by Chelle

West Seattle had two swimmers qualify for State 2020, one a senior focused the past three years on obtaining his goal of swimming for college, the other a junior exchange student from Milan, Italy.

“It was Tate who convinced me to try out for the swim team. I swam back in Italy on a team but had been unsure about trying here. Tate has become one of my best friends here in the States, we both like the same races and compete against each other in practice,” explained Mattia Sbacchis. Mattia, who began swimming at age 6. Despite some back troubles his previous season, coaches and Tate encouraged Mattia until he found himself ranked 13th in the 100 breaststroke. His race time of 58.97 placed him third in the constellation round. Mattia’s other strong race is freestyle, making him and Tate great training partners and great friends on dry land.

Tate Ingraham began summer swim club at the age of 8. He never had year-round focus until his sophomore year, when swimming in college became his main goal. He also swam the butterfly until double shoulder injuries last year forced him to focus on mastering the freestyle 50 and 100. Tate has been so focused he has beaten his own school record four times in the last three weeks. His new PRs at the finals on Saturday had him dropping around a second off his 50 freestyle (21.46) and the 100 freestyle (47.41). 

Tate placed first in both constellation rounds, placing him 9th, although he actually swam faster than some of the swimmers in the top 8 finals. In the end he was the 5th fastest in the 50 free and 6th fastest in the 100 free, accomplishing the goals he set for himself at the start of the season of a low 21 and a mid 47.  

While Coach Corey Sorenson felt Tate had potential for the Olympic trials, that is not one of the senior’s next goals. “I wouldn’t mind being invited to the trials, but would not be sad if I did not qualify. I really want to compete in college and Nationals. I have wanted to do that since I was 8.” When asked why he felt that way, he replied, “I like to keep my goals reasonable, so I can reach them and set new ones.” 

Sorenson believes Tate’s final school record set at state in both the 50 and 100 freestyle will stand for some time at West Seattle. “Tate is one of the most coachable kids I have ever had. It has been a pleasure coaching him. “ 

As far as his legacy at West Seattle, Tate hopes he instilled the importance of leadership on the swim team. “I was chosen as team captain my freshman year because no one else cared about leadership back then. I hope I set a good enough example for the team to have great leaders for the next few years. “