Boys Swim Keeps Their Foot on the Gas

John+Galakatos%2C+sophomore%2C+and+Ahren+Muehleisen%2C+junior%2C+work+on+their+freestyle+stroke+at+practice.

Nolan Jones

John Galakatos, sophomore, and Ahren Muehleisen, junior, work on their freestyle stroke at practice.

The Westminster swim and dive team took on Borgia at home on Friday, September 24th. The dual meet was full of close races, fast times and quality diving.

Starting with Evan Kohn, senior, Luke Ryan, junior, and Joey Schloss, freshman, the team was given a thirteen point lead through the diving portion, as Borgia had no divers. Schloss took first between the three divers and has now been awarded first place in both of the meets he has competed in. He is looking to be a very strong contributor to the team.

Inside of the swimming portion, the Cats were electric, having 66% best times as a team and two new qualifications for the state tournament. Alex Wittenauer and Jacob Schloss, seniors, each posted best times in their events. Wittenauer swam the 50 Free in 23.98 seconds, and Schloss finished the 200 Free in 1:58.45. Along with this, the boys have qualified their relays in past meets, having their 200 Medley Relay and 200 Freestyle Relay already in the state meet.

Despite this success, Coach McGowan does not plan to let off of the gas at practices. He plans to continue to gradually increase the number of yards the team swims at practice in the next few weeks in order to prepare them for state. The yards will continue to increase for two weeks before coach’s “Day of Death” will happen, where the team will swim over 11,000 yards in a single day as opposed to their regular 6,000-8,000.

We were definitely very proud of our performance against Borgia, but we know that we need to maintain our focus and keep looking forward to state.

— Alex Wittenauer