Sensational Swimmers

A member of the girls swim team Zoe Albert says, “It wasn’t what we expected. The coaches thought it would take a lot longer to build up to the place we’re at now. A lot of girls made districts so we’re still practicing, still going.”

Another swimmer, Nick Richar says, “It’s been a very good season. The girls were phenomenal; they had a record year. It’s been a long time since the girls or guys have had an undefeated season. The guys went 13-2 and it was great to see new kids enjoy the sport and grow their talent. I hope to see the swim team grow and get more attention. What they do is amazing in their own way and they deserve to get a lot more credit than what they get.”

One accomplishment was the Oil City girl’s relay team with Morgan Stover, Emily Russel, Christina Smith, and Christa Schneider, with a time of 1:43.85 that took pool record for the girls 200 free relay. The time they beat was 1:44.56 set by the Warren’s girls relay team in 1996.

On February 8th, the varsity swim team competed at the inaugural Southern Tier Invite which is the Region 1 Championship at Grove City College. The Oil City Swim Team took the girls champion trophy and the boys and girls together took home the combined champion trophy.

Cranberry High School student Nick Richar also took 4th in the 100 backstroke and 3rd in the 50 free at the inaugural Southern Tier Invite.

Nick Richar is a district qualifier in the  50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 individual medley, 100 fly, 200 freestyle, and the 500 freestyle.

Morgan Stover, another Cranberry student,  is a district qualifier in the 200 medley relay, 200 free, 200 individual medley, 50 free, 100 free, 500 free, 200 free relay, 100 back, and the 100 breast.

For districts, the swimmers are using methods such as not shaving before the meet so they practice with more drag. Stover says, “Don’t shave.” The night before the meet, the swim team shaves so that when they are at the meet they go faster.

The next competition the district qualifying swimmers look forward to is their district meet at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva , Ohio the last weekend in February.