Tigers Swim out on Top
All sports were affected by COVID-19, and the swim team was no exception. Masks were required when athletes were not swimming, competition was a bit more limited, and fans were sparse, but this didn’t slow our swimmers down.
As their season came to a close, both the men and women’s teams won the 6A Central Conference Championship. A few weeks later, they both finished as runners-up at the State meet.
Lindsey Haman and Alexa Coughlan served as captains of the women’s team. Haman was an individual state champion in the 50 free and the 100 free. Coughlan won 5th place in the 100 breast and dropped her time in both of the events she swam in. The 200 freestyle women’s relay won the event, and included Kathleen Claycomb, Lindsey Haman. Mia Patella, and Anne Zhan.
The team’s only female diver, Mackenzie Ferguson, has only been diving for two years. This year she became the State Diving Champion.
“At State, I failed my second dive, and I was devastated. I was last in the lineup for the last dive and 18 points behind someone from Fayetteville. I ended up scoring 25 points on the last dive and won the State Championship,” Ferguson said.
Logan Wilson and Jack Forrest served as the mens’ team captains. Forrest was an individual state champ in the 200 free and the 50 free. Wilson won 4th place in the 100 free and was a part of both first place relays. The Men’s 200 free relay team made up of Youssef Bahgat, Logan Wilson, Layth Aladhami, and Jack Forrest, and the 400 free relay team with Mathew Nguyen, Joshua Reynolds, Logan Wilson, and Jack Forrest were State Champions in the event.
“This year was definitely different. We had to wear masks unless we were swimming, and the boys’ and girls’ team were separate, and they usually aren’t,” Patella said. “They were really strict on those specific rules and tried to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
COVID-19 was not the only factor that impacted their season. The record-breaking snow meant missing practice for almost two weeks right before State. Despite this setback, they came out and placed.
“This was a really weird year with COVID, but we were closer as a team this year. At State, I barely sat down the whole time because I was cheering for everyone,” Olivia Meurer said.
