The Chamberlain swim meet at West Meadows Thursday night, September 30, was a sweeping victory. The Chiefs stood no chance against the undefeated Freedom boys team and the very successful girls team. Although not the normal pool, the home meet had a few Patriots supporting the team. For the swimmers, having their fellow students and peers at the competition is a great incentive. People come to meets, home or away, and it’s often a great time.

“It’s really neat seeing my friends race,” said Senior Grayson Hertenstein. “I just don’t know who to cheer for sometimes.”

“I’m just here to scope out the competition,” chuckled Wiregrass swimmer Vincent Iglio, 12.

He swims for a club team with several other Freedom swimmers, so he was there to support his fellow swimmers. From the people swimmers’ perspectives, they truly appreciate it.

“Seeing them all here is a great inspiration to swim fast”, said Josie Clark, 9.

She swam the 200 I.M. and then almost immediately got back in the pool to sprint the 50-yard freestyle. Nearing the end of the season, people are able to swim events that they aren’t used to.

“This isn’t even my favorite event, but I loved the race tonight,” said Senior Jared Shollenberger on the 100 breaststroke.

He swam the 100 yards in 1:23, a personal best time in this event. This was a close race with several other swimmers; Senior Aidan Boggs finished less than a second ahead of Shollenberger.

“We’ve never had a problem with this school,” said Captain of the Freedom Swim Team Jarrod Rodriguez, 12. “This has always been a pretty easy meet and we really enjoy the ones that aren’t high stress.”

This victory gives both teams more points to their incredible record this year. The boys team has won against six schools in a row with zero losses so far. The girls team has only lost once so far, to Hillsborough’s enormous team. Otherwise, this is shaping up to be a fantastic season so far.

The next meet is against Wiregrass High School on October 5th. The meet starts at 5:30 p.m. This is the Senior Night for the swim team so come out to Hunter’s Green Country Club to cheer on the swimmers against what might be their hardest meet of the season.