The boys swim and dive team competed in the Class One State Championship on Nov 15. The team qualified in all three relays—200 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 free relay—and sophomore Gavin Waser qualified in two individual events: 50 freestyle and and 100 breaststroke. Swim and Dive coach Luc Benson said he was unsure what to expect this season.
“We knew that we had a lot of potential and we expected that there would be some improvement from last year, but the boys far exceeded our expectations,” Benson said.
Sophomore Gavin Waser, who did not qualify for state individually last year, finished 7th in the 100 Breastroke State Finals this year. Benson said his success was inevitable due to his determination this season.
“I think this year was a testament to how hard [Waser] was working, he was working hard, and it showed,” Benson said.
Waser said he focused on giving his all during practice throughout the season as well as improving his technique to give his best performance at state.
“I really tried to just work hard and practice as much as I can. I was really looking forward to tapering down and having those easier practices to focus on really feeling the water and getting through my stroke and fixing those little things that I did at Conference wrong,” Waser said.
The 200 Medley Relay, consisting of Waser, senior Ryan Menz, junior Rylan Brieler, and sophomore Caleb Hardee, finished 24th with a time of 1:47.25. The 200 freestyle relay, consisting of Waser, Hardee, Brieler, and Menz, finished 26th with a time of 1:36.84. In the final relay, the 400 freestyle relay, junior Gabriel Kramer, Brieler, Hardee, and Menz finished 22nd with a time of 3:37.71. Benson said the relays stayed consistent overall but individually some swimmers improved their leg of the relay. “I think that they did as well as we could have ever hoped,” Benson said.