By Saya Alvares and Michaela Thimot

Sports Editor and People Editor

A self-proclaimed outgoing leader, freshman Nico Bianchi is already making his mark at Los Gatos High School. Bianchi, a member of three different sports teams at school, and one outside of school, shines both inside and outside of the pool. He enjoys playing water polo in the fall, soccer in the winter, and swimming in the spring. While his athletic endeavors are impressive to say the least, Bianchi thrives in the classroom as well. 

Starting off strong, Bianchi began his water polo journey at LGHS at the end of eighth grade with summer conditioning. The Boys’ Junior Varsity and Varsity teams start conditioning before the season really starts in the fall, and their workouts are not for the faint of heart. Bianchi described the experience saying: “Especially as a goalie, the training was really difficult on the legs. One of the exercises was emptying a water jug while treading, which progressively got easier throughout the summer, but was very hard to start with.” Even though this is his first year playing water polo, the coach pulled Bianchi up to varsity for the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs. 

Once water polo season reached its end, Bianchi jumped right into his first year of high school soccer. Since his days with Kidz Love Soccer, one of Bianchi’s biggest passions continues to be the sport. Growing up playing throughout summers in Spain, Bianchi always loved being goalie. After going back and forth between a few soccer clubs, he settled with Los Gatos United’s 2008 boys team, and still plays with the club. Bianchi sticks with soccer because of “how much [he] loves being a part of a team” and because of his family’s tradition of watching professional soccer together whenever they can.

Similar to water polo, this is Bianchi’s first year swimming, other than swim team back when he was eight. As a member of the junior varsity team, Bianchi mainly swims freestyle, but will occasionally do backstroke and breaststroke as well. The atmosphere of the team mirrors that of water polo, and Bianchi loves how close both teams get throughout the season.

Even when his sports are not in season, Bianchi fills his time with enticing pastimes. Whether it’s skiing in Bear Valley — the only place he’s ever skied — or surfing in Spain, the adventures never end. Catch Bianchi in the pool after school, and make sure to ask him to “get sturdy” and you’ll definitely witness some great dance moves, and easily have a new friend. Watch out for Bianchi because if the beginning of freshman year means anything, he is going far.