A Massachusetts girls swim team kept its long winning streak alive Friday despite what some parents have called unequal competition.
The Wellesley High School girls won their 71st consecutive meet, and they did it against a co-ed team from Milton that has 10 boys.
The Bay State Conference allows co-ed swim teams if a school can't field enough athletes of one gender.
"We talked a lot about just kind of our fundamental values of controlling what you can control," said Wellesley coach Doug Curtin. "We're not going to go change a rule mid-week, but we can really carry ourselves the way we want to represent ourselves."
After intense competing, coaching and cheering, a show of sportsmanship came in the form of an exchange of handshakes before the final scores were read.
"I just think that today, we were aware that we had to swim fast, and we did," one of the athletes said. "We all performed, and we're all proud of each other."
"There are just some incredible women on this team that just are forces to be reckoned with, and they're all just lovely human beings," said Jen Frank, the mother of Wellesley swimmer Olivia Frank.
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"Gender inequality, in general, is difficult, especially for women at times, and it was awesome to see these girls keep their spirit and pull through as a team," added Katie McKay, whose daughter, Isabel McKay, is on the team.
"She dropped lots of time today, she had great races," Lisa Tellander said of her daughter, star freshman Sonja Tellander. "So did most of the girls. And I think it just brought out the best competitive, good spirit out of them."
With the team overcoming its biggest challenge of the year, the team is 5-0 on the season.
