Swim team sends 3 to state meet; Fullam wins diving championship

Freshman Carey Cosgrove nervously looked around the swim meet taking place at Asheville High. It was the first swim meet of the season and Cosgrove’s first meet of her high school career.

“I had no idea what anything was or what was going on,” Cosgrove said. “I had no idea what I was reading about heats, I actually had no idea what a heat was. So I had to keep asking the coach what things meant and when I was going so I didn’t miss my event.”

For swimmers, the first meet is always the craziest one for them, being new to the way meets function.

“I didn’t compete in the very first meet for the team because I started two weeks late,” freshman Vivian Rodriguez said. “My first meet was very nerve-racking because I had never been in a swim meet before and I didn’t really know what to do. Luckily, everything turned out fine, and I actually ended up doing better than I thought I would.”

The season ended earlier this month with junior Connor Courtney placing 16th in the 100 IM event and 18th in the 100 breaststroke in the state meet.

Diver Lee Fullam, a senior, won the state championship in diving. Senior Joseph Manzi placed third in the state in diving.

Everyone on the team had different reasons for loving the sport of swimming; for some it was the water, and others it was the people. For Cosgrove it was the competition.

“My favorite part about swimming was the meets,” Cosgrove said. “I love it because you become so close to your teammates from everyone cheering each other on, and they are all focused on trying to help support and cheer for you when you compete. It’s definitely different from the practices where everyone is focused on doing their own individual thing. Meets are also really fun because you get your adrenaline pumping and you are just working really hard and in the moment.”

Although the season began with quite a few new and inexperienced swimmers, the team showed improvement throughout the season.

“After a lot of practice and learning, our girls’ team ended up being pretty good,” Cosgrove said. “One of the girls’ strengths was we knew how to pace ourselves. We may not be super fast, but we have good stamina.”

At the conference championship, the women’s 200 medley relay team placed fourth, the women’s 200 freestyle relay team placed third, and the women’s 400 freestyle relay team placed fourth. The men’s 200 medley relay team placed third, the men’s 200 freestyle relay placed first, and the men’s 400 relay team placed fourth.

Senior Jillian Heywood placed sixth in the 200 IM, sixth in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 freestyle.Sophomore Arielle Blake took fifth in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 freestyle. Freshman Mackenzie Keel place sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

Junior Tiernan Turner got fourth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle. Junior Suzanne English placed fifth in the 100 freestyle. Junior Kiley Wooten placed second in the 100 backstroke and fifth in the 200 IM. Senior Nathan Hallock placed third in the 100 butterfly and first in the 50 freestyle while Courtney placed first in the 100 breaststroke and first in the 200 IM.

The team competed against Smoky Mountain at the Mid-West Medical Center for senior night with the men taking first place and the women second. At conference the team placed fourth.

“At the meet against Smoky Mountain we got our personal records in our relays,” Heywood said. “Everyone did really well, and I was really proud of the team, but I feel like we should have won because everything was stacked in our favor.”

By Alex Ginn, Feature Writer