Senior Max Farnham is a record holder for the 500-yard freestyle on the Wilcox Varsity team. He is an outstanding student-athlete in and outside of the water. Franham is one of the most highly-achieved swimmers on the team and an academic beast, who is currently taking 4 AP classes.
Farnham has swam on the team for four years, and it is his second year as team captain. He started swimming when he was just 5 years old at Laurelwood Cabana Club summer league. Despite not liking the sport at first, his two older brothers, who were also swimmers, encouraged him to give it another shot. Soon, he fell in love with swimming and began swimming competitively at the Sunnyvale Swim Club. Swimming was a big part of Farnham’s life growing up, and he mentions that “swimming has essentially become our family’s culture”.
As a club swimmer at Sunnyvale Swim Club, Farnham trains 8 times a week with double practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays where he swims before and after school. On Fridays, he participates in the Wilcox swim dual meets. At high school meets, Farnham swims the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle. Farnham’s best time in the 200 freestyle is 1 minute 42.62 seconds and the 500 freestyle is 4 minutes and 44.80 seconds. His favorite sport is the technical aspect of the sport – how much attention to detail and strategy is required for races. It was often difficult for Farnham to swim the “miracle race” with proper technique and well-performed race strategy, but those few times that he was able to execute everything perfectly made the sport so rewarding.
Farnham says that the toughest part of swimming is the demanding practice schedules and the consistent training that is necessary to improve race times. Compared to other sports, it is easy for people to get out of shape because the sport is done in the water. Therefore, it is important to come to be committed to the sport, and not miss any of the practices. As much as he loves the sport, he also mentions the stress that it can cause him sometimes saying, “ I love the sport a ton, but when you are doing the same thing that’s so physically and mentally challenging for hours every day, there are certainly times when you get tired of it. Considering some of the practices are done as early as 5 in the morning before school, your sleep schedule also must revolve around swimming and it can feel like there is never any time to relax.” His life as a swimmer can be summed up in 4 words; Eat. Sleep. Swim. Repeat. But, he is overjoyed that all of his hard work paid off at the end of the high school season last year at CCS, when he set his personal best time of 1 minute and 42.62 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle.
Farnham shares all of his favorite memories from high school swimming, saying that his favorite memory by far was becoming League Champions last year in the Men’s 4×50 freestyle relay. He recollects the fond memory exclaiming, “ I swam the fourth and final leg of the relay, and we were third behind Cupertino and Santa Clara when I dove in for my 50 freestyle. I was able to catch Santa Clara’s team fairly quickly, and by the end of the race, I had made up 1.2 seconds on Cupertino’s relay and out-touched them by 0.22 seconds!” He expresses how he felt exhilarated, and a rush of adrenaline surged through his body. He credits all of his teammates Purav, Zane, and Caleb for all of their amazing swims that made it happen.
Farnham’s goal this season is to place in the top 3 at CCS and qualify for CIF championship in the 200-yard freestyle. By demonstrating his academic and physical prowess, Max Farnham continues to be an inspiration for all of his teammates at Wilcox. The Wilcox community can’t wait to see more of Max Farnham’s incredible races this season!
