Caroline Conforti didn’t want to go to the state swimming competition alone. Her Guilderville teammates made sure that she wouldn’t.

Guilderville’s two freestyle relays — 200 yards and 400 yards — weren’t projected to qualify for States going into the intense Section 2 Division 1 Championships on Nov. 8. The swimmers’ extra efforts extended their season. Guilderville had counted on its 200-yard medley relay to qualify, senior Sarah Webber said on Monday, but it missed the cut.

Reeling from the disappointing results of the medley relay, senior Kelley Gao said that she and the other Guilderville swimmers — Conforti, Webber, Stephanie Erickson, Olivia Bigge, and Belen Marriaga — took their frustrations out on the two freestyle relays.

The 200-yard freestyle relay of Gao, Erickson, Bigge, and Marriaga clinched its spot on Nov. 8 with a time of 1:41.33. Gao said that their shrieks of excitement could shatter glass.

“I heard all of this screaming,” Webber remembers. “That really set the tone for our relay. We had one more shot to get it done.”

The 400-yard freestyle relay was the last event on Nov. 8; Bigge, Conforti, Webber, and Marriaga qualified for the state competition with a time of 3:42.25. Webber told The Enterprise that the results were a mixture of shock and thrill.

“It’s the best,” added Conforti, who will also swim in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley at States this weekend at Ithaca College. “When our anchor, Belen, touched the wall, we all looked up to see the time, and we knew it was in the range, but we didn’t really know.”

There was a split second of uncertainty for Guilderville’s 400-yard freestyle relay. But, when the swimmers saw the arms of their head coach, John Urbanski, raised in the air, Conforti says, everyone started screaming and jumping around. “Some tears, too,” she said. “It was an amazing sensation. We weren’t expecting it.”

Even though Gao, Webber, and Conforti were over a week removed from their accomplishments at sectionals, their enthusiasm was seen all over their faces and heard through their commanding voices.

“The adrenaline and energy is high; I just can’t wait,” said Conforti. “Carrying the energy [to States] is the goal.”

The Section 2 Division I swimming field is very strong; Niskayuna and Shenendehowa are usually state-ranked teams, Coach Urbanski said. Guilderville — a combination of Guilderland and Voorheesville because Guilderland does not have a pool — placed fourth at the Nov. 8 championships, which was its best showing in years. Also, it has been a long time since six Guilderville swimmers made the state competition.

“It’s a great collection of swimmers who work well together,” said Urbanski. “They’ve shown exactly what it means to be a team. There has been a lot of growth, and it can be grueling with all their school work and all their swimming, but they’ve all had really great swims because they’ve been prepared.”

Webber said that the Guilderville swimmers are looking forward to dropping more seconds of their times at States this weekend; they leave for Ithaca on Thursday. Conforti is ranked 20th in the state in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.66 seconds; the 400-yard freestyle relay is ranked 33rd; and the 200-yard freestyle relay is ranked 38th.

“We’re always motivated, and we’re always there to get the other person pumped up,” said Webber. “The first swimmer has a lot of pressure because they’re starting the relay off — you have to get a good start. We’re cheering the entire time.”

Gao says that she saves her self-gratification for when she’s swimming with her club team. “We want to do this together,” she said of Guilderville. “It’s about the team, not about how fast my split was.”

Although, a fast split [individual portion of a relay] can be nice, Webber added. “It’s better to know that we worked as a tandem,” she said. “Our fastest swimmers vary, but we were all around the same split at sectionals. We know that we can all cut time.”

For Guilderville, one person’s success is shared with everyone else, said Urbanski. Swimming is mostly individual, but Urbanski says that his swimmers are frequently concerned about their teammates’ wants.

“We love each other and we’re unified,” Conforti said.

The six swimmers going to Ithaca are a small sample size of Guilderville’s determination and positive energy, Urbanski said. Gao, Webber, and Conforti all used the word “incredible” to describe the 2014 season.

“Where we’ve come from to what we’ve done seems unfathomable, but we deserve it with all the hard work we put in,” said Conforti. “We dedicate our lives to swimming.”