Swimming regionals took place on Jan. 19; many students competed, and many students placed at the competition. Both the girls and boys team got sixth place overall.
Senior Michael O’Leary states that he has been swimming for around 12 years. At Regionals, he competed in the 2 IM and placed first, 100m breast and placed first, the 400m freestyle relay and placed first, and the 200 freestyle relay and placed fourth. He qualified for States in the 200 IM, 100m breast, and 400m freestyle relay; there is a chance he will also qualify for the 200 freestyle relay as well.
Sophomore Kendall Chandler comments that she “started doing summer swim when I was about eight and have been doing it ever since! High school is definitely very different, but what I learned from summer swim gave me a strong base to build from.”
Chandler states that at Regionals, she swam “in the medley relay, the 100 fly and placed fifth and 100 breast and placed sixth.”
O’Leary said that “to qualify for States, you have to be in the top three in the region of the next best 12 in the state.”
The following athletes will be swimming at States Jan. 24: senior Michael O’Leary, junior Michael DeJesus, senior Kyle DiFilippo, and junior James Cassidy will be competing for the boys. The girls competing will be sophomores Kendall Chandler, Emma Dorsey, Logan Sealy, Ava Sealy, Sophia Bonincontri, and freshman Abigail Hadding.
“The preparation for regionals is very different than our normal practices. Throughout most of the season, the team has variations of the same set, and we are in lanes based on speed; but, to prepare for regionals, our coaches separate us into lanes based on stroke and each lane gets a different sets that allows us to focus on certain aspects of our specific strokes,” states Chandler.
O’Leary states that he enjoyed “being with the team during Regionals,” and he is looking forward to “hanging out with the team at States” this year.
“Last year, I swam the 100 fly at most of our meets and went into regionals with a very specific goal, but I did not achieve it. I was extremely disappointed, and this season I only swam the 100 fly once before regionals, and it did not go very well then either,” says Chandler.
She continues, “I really wanted a chance to redeem myself, so before regionals I asked Mrs. Canale [the team’s swim coach] to put me in it just to see what I could do. I went out and gave it everything I had, and finally met my goal of swimming under 1:20, and that was really exciting.”
“After a season full of so many meets and so much hard work, it was really awesome to see it all come together,” Chandler finishes. “Getting to celebrate after with my teammates was so fun, and I know that it was so special for me, but I also know how hard everyone on the team has worked to be where we are. Getting to watch and cheer on my teammates as they swam incredible races also made the meet really exciting.”
Chandler states that after an injury to her foot during the cross country season, where she was in a boot and not allowed to do anything with her foot, that she “struggled” with coming back from not using her foot, to using it everyday while swimming.
