If you were to look at the team statistics listed on MaxPreps for the girls’ swim team at Corona del Sol High School, you would see Samantha Arredondo’s name all over them.

She usually competes in the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-meter freestyle. She has the best time for each of those events.

She says she only ever swam the 100-meter backstroke and the 100-meter breaststroke as “a one-time thing,” and yet, she posted the fastest time on the team for both of those events.

You would be thinking there must be quite a few colleges looking to recruit her. You would at least think a scholarship has to be in order.

But no.

She’s just a freshman who can’t decide whether tacos or burritos are her favorite food.

Though she is only a freshman, this is not her first time in the pool.

“I’ve been swimming for 10 years,” Arredondo said. “It was very important to my grandpa that we all learned to swim.”

In fact, she comes from a long line of swimmers. Arredondo said her grandfather, father, and aunts have all coached swim teams, and her grandmother was even an official for Olympic swim meets.

Before Arredondo became a member of the Aztecs’ swim team, she swam for a club team. And before that, she swam for a recreation team for four or five years, which was coached by her grandfather.

This recreation team is also where she met fellow Aztec swimmers Haley and Zoe Johnson. They both swim on the 200-meter medley relay team with Arredondo.

The Johnsons are seniors at Corona del Sol, and both gushed about the kind of swimmer Arredondo is.

 “She has so much potential,” Zoe said. “I could picture her doing something with swim in the future.”

Haley said: “She always has a great positive attitude. I was really excited about her coming and being a part of the swim team.”

Haley also said Arredondo has always been fast.

So, what does a freshman have to say about her first-year successes on the Corona del Sol swim team?

“It’s crazy,” Arredondo said. “I couldn’t imagine seeing so much growth in my swimming because it’s been a little overwhelming, but my teammates have really supported me.”

She’s also trying not to think too far into the future yet.

“I’m just focusing on this year, just trying to better my times,” Arredondo said.

This was also Arredondo’s first year at Corona del Sol high school.

“I was a little nervous going in,” Arredondo said.

But if there was one thing that she kept reiterating, it wasn’t her personal success, or how fast she is, or the fact that she still couldn’t decide if tacos are superior to burritos, but how much of a family her team is.

“We are definitely very close-knit,” Arredondo said. “They all included me, and I felt very close to everyone.

“There’s so much support at all the meets. … Even if someone didn’t do what they expected or didn’t do very well everyone’s telling them that they’ll do better next time and they’re training hard and it will all pay off in the end. It’s a really nice environment.”