Men’s swim goes nearly undefeated in regular season

Arianna Peper
Junior Editor/Business Manager

“I want them to look back on this season with pride, joy and smiles no

matter what happens in the end,” men’s swim and dive coach, Evyn Spencer, said.

As of Oct. 25, the men’s swim and dive team has gone nearly undefeated in its regular season with a record of 10 to 1. The team won the Summit Quad and placed second in the Summit Invitational.

In addition to this, the team placed third at Marquette Relays on Sept. 7, and in the COMO invitational meet at Mizzou, it placed 18th out of 52 teams.

Senior and team captain Emmett Shank said, “It means a lot; it’s our best record in probably around 50 years. It just shows that you can swim individually, but at the end of the day, the points matter as a team.”

As for what contributes to the team’s success, sophomore Clark Montgomery said, “Everyone getting along. Like we have a lot of depth and everyone contributes to the team.”

Junior and team captain Ryan DeMargel agreed that the team’s bond has contributed to their success.

DeMargel said, “We all get along super well, and also we’ve been working really hard getting up at 5:30 in the morning to go practice.”

About the morning practices, senior Gavin Closson said, “It’s a grind, but I think that’s what makes us able to win meets because we have that experience of waking up and swimming hard every morning so it just helps us swim faster.”

Shank also said winning the meets is from “putting in all the work that we do before the sun even rises at 6 a.m. We only have four lanes to work in yet the team still shows up willing to work for both their individual goals and the team goals.”

So far this season, Shank and Montgomery have broken several records. Shank broke the 500 freestyle (4:44.38) and 200 freestyle (1:44.39) during the COMO meet at Mizzou. Montgomery, on the other hand, broke the 100 freestyle (48.02) and the 100 backstroke (52.74).

About the records, Montgomery said, “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a good goal because it’s something that you know is gonna be there for a little bit, and it’s just a good feeling once you do it.”

As the season has progressed, the team has worked to improve upon several things.

Closson said, “At first everyone was a little rusty from the off-season, but we went straight into it going hard and I think over time everyone has gotten more equal in the way we practice. The whole team has progressed, every single one, no matter what talent level, everyone has gotten better.”

Spencer said the biggest change she has noticed this season is in the team’s training. “They’re challenging themselves more in practice and from that drive at practice they are seeing results at meets, and I would say one of the biggest things this season is their understanding of the idea that hard work works. [And they are doing] all of that without sacrificing the importance of being a whole team.”

Closson said he also believes the team is closer this season than they have been in past years.

Closson said, “Some years the older kids weren’t as close with the younger, but I think this year we’re more of a family then before.”

DeMargel said, “We have team dinners before every meet so we are all very close and they are always fun. Being close as a team definitely makes us better, as swimming is a mental sport, and without a support system it can be challenging.”
Spencer said, “There’s a big impact in the sport of swimming when you are in the middle of your race and you can see and hear your teammates.”

“These boys specifically love a good post-race celebration so they have really taken the time to hype each other up and motivate each other to try their best and just go hard and when you have that you get that team bond because they are invested in each other not just their own swimming,” Spencer said.

This season, the team is also working towards bringing more swimmers to swim at State on Nov. 15 – 16.

To swim at State, there is a qualification time that swimmers must make in order to have the opportunity to compete. Then, the top 32 times for each event in Missouri get to swim at State.

So far nine individual swimmers on the team have qualifying times to participate in State. In total, the team has 30 state qualifying times which includes all three relays (the 200 medley, the 200 freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay).

Shank said he believes the team is also front runners to win conference and they have hopes that the 200 freestyle relay can win State.

Shank said, “The team has just grown to embrace racing and embrace challenges for every year.”

Feature Photo: Senior Alex Magee swims the 200 IM during the meet against Ladue on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Webster won 105-65. Photo by Arianna Peper

Arianna Peper–News/Opinion Editor This will be  Arianna Peper’s second year on ECHO staff. She made several contributions while taking journalism class her freshman year.

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