WEB EXCLUSIVE

The Oviedo Swim and Dive team’s last meet was the District Championships with a grand victory. The girls team had an impressive 10 point lead against the second place runner up, Lake Brantley High School. 

However, the boys team had a very slim win with only a 4 point advantage over Nease High School. Overall, the teams have been dominating the local swim teams this year- leading them to a clear spot for States. Among the many swimmers, only 18 were able to progress to State Championships to represent the school. 

Throughout States- all the swimmers performed their best which showed through with the school’s overall score placing them third for both groups. With the 18 swimmers who were able to go, only 6 got 1st place in their events. Though Oviedo wasn’t able to win 1st place, the championships will forever remain as a  memory for the ones who won. 

“I had the lead going into the last 50 and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I can actually win this.’ From that moment, I put everything I had into the final push,” said Gabriella Goodwin.

Goodwin, who is a junior, was the 1st place winner for the girls 500 freestyle who won by only a time difference of .05. She knew that her competition was going to be hard but she also knew with the training she acquired, she was able to showcase her hard work. 

“All the work that I have put into this season has finally paid off and it makes me so happy to know that all the hours of hard work had led me to something incredible,” said Kaylin Herbet.

Herbet, who is also a  junior, had a monumental 1st place win in the girls 100 freestyle that greatly impacted her. Throughout her experiences with being a part of the swim team, she credited her teammates and her coaches for her win. 

“It’s the end of the season,” said Luca Oliva “We had trained so hard to get this far and we are so proud of each other.”

Oliva was one of the 1st place winners of the 4 x100 freestyle relay along with Andrew Christensen, Ryan Reynolds, and Ryan Walker. The  group were all getting prepared for going into finals but ended up being a .5 of a point away.

With the successful turnout of the championships, it only shows the talent of the many who were able to make it so far. Though many weren’t able to make it so far or place in the Championships- it’s still a remarkable feature to be a part of the swim team.