The swim and dive team finished their season strongly at States Saturday after an up and down performance at Regionals.

The girls placed 6th overall with 157.5 points and the boys placed 4th overall with 143 points.

Senior Alex Vissering led the boys team, coming in second in the 100 yard breaststroke third in the 100 yard freestyle while junior Caroline Rhodes led the girls team, coming in sixth in the 200 yard IM and sixth in the 500 yard free.

Impressive performances were also shown by Junior Jeffrey Su who earned fifth place in the 500 yard freestyle, sophomore Lena Redisch who finished in 4th in the 500 yard freestyle and freshman Sophie Reilly who came in sixth in the 100 yard butterfly.

The Vikes also stepped it up in the relay events and earned seventh in the men’s 200 freestyle relay when they were originally seeded 12th and fourth in the men’s 400 freestyle relay when they were seeded tenth. The Lady Vikes received seventh both in the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay.

There were some disappointments including freshmen Danny Calder, who disqualified for a false start in the 100 yard butterfly. Su emphasizes that no matter what happens, Coach Geoff Schaefer is proud of the team.

“Even if it’s the worst swim of our entire life, [Schaefer] will always find a way to enlighten us and sneak a joke here and there,” Su said. “He understands what we go through each day and tries to help us out and move forward from that experience and we love him for that.”
Despite the losses of many fast swimmers next season, Su still believes the team will be able to achieve success.

“Some of our new swimmers were disappointed at not swimming at the championship meets but they have the potential and the willpower to make it next year and help score some points for the team,” Su said.