By Ann Ross Westermann and Anika Prakash

Swimmers and divers from the Collegiate Swim and Dive team came to school the morning of Tuesday, February 20 weary from a hectic weekend of tough competition.

Over the three-day weekend of February 17-19, the VISAA State Swim and Dive Championship took place in Stafford, Virginia. For the first time ever, the diving finals took place at night, when all of the swimmers were in the pool. The 16 divers that qualified for finals performed their last two dives; girls on Friday night and boys on Saturday night. The boys swim team earned second place in the state, with Zach Cram (’19), Iain Moore (’19), Liam Ryan (’21), and Charles Armstrong (’20) placing first in the 200 medley relay.  The girls swim team placed third in the state, with amazing swimmer (and Match contributor) Caroline Baber (’18) breaking the record in the 100 meter breaststroke. Typically, diving takes place after preliminaries, so there are few people in the stands. But this year there were quite a few supporters, including Match contributor Kate Johnston (’19).

The State Meet pool. Photo credit: Ann Ross Westermann.

Johnston, also known as the swim team’s number one fan, made the one hour trek to Stafford to support her friends on the team. She says its her favorite sport to watch because the environment is so “energetic.” Johnston was so amazed by their abilities and the constant support of their teammates that she expressed interest in trying out for the swim team next year.

Swimmer Mercer Reed (’19) says he is “exhausted from the long days this past weekend that lasted from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the pool.” He also says that “while we did not win, there was a lot of improvement within our team, and it was fun to cheer on the team.” His favorite memory from the meet was “when swimmer Zach Cram swam with strep throat and still placed 2nd in the 100m fly.”

Diver Ann Ross Westermann (’19) describes her finals experiences as “one of the scariest moment of my life. Everyone was watching me, and it felt like the divers were almost proving themselves to the swimmer, which was definitely nerve-wracking.” Fellow diver Sadie Woodhouse (’20) says that “it was a really fun weekend, and the energy in the pool was always high. It was also fun to bond with the rest of our team and the swim team.”

Related: Read about swim coach Mike Peters HERE and recently retired swim coach Mike Stott HERE.

Featured image by Ann Ross Westermann.