Men’s swimming coming to a close

And just like that, another great season of men’s swimming has ended. On Saturday, Feb. 13, the men’s swim team had its last meet at Linn-Mar Aquatic Center. Only 10 people on the team made it, but they swam the best times that they could and tried their hearts out, and grew more as a family. 

Head coach Chelsea Szczyrbak said, “I noticed from the first to last that our team really became a family. It was fun to watch each day the level of competition grow, the level of accountability grow and the level of depth to friendships grow. Our third goal for the year was to be a family, and this goal was accomplished.” 

Senior Tommy Paulson agreed. “We really grew close as a team over the season, and there was true culture from the seniors all the way to the freshmen. We could not meet as a team nearly as much as we usually do because of COVID, which severely limited our time spent outside of swimming; however, even with that, this team was one unit by the end of the season, and we are all better men for it.” 

The team did not score at State, but some swam their top times of the season, a ton of times were dropped from the times at District.

The 400 free relays of Graham Fry, Cole Wilson, Harrison Redfern, and Drew Langner swam a 3:21.24 for 17th place. Langer, Wilson, Holden, and Fry swam the 200 free relays and swam a 1:31.51 for 19th place. 

The first event was John Butler, Connor Woods, Alex England, and Holden with a time of 1:44.59, placing 22nd in the 200 medley relay. 

The Tigers also competed in three individual races. The top one was Drew Langner swimming the 200 IM time of 2:03.86 and breaststroke time of 1:02.75. Joseph Blasen swam the 100 breaststrokes with a time of 1:02.93, and finally, Graham Fry swam the 100 breaststrokes with a time of 49.53.

“I thought the team held their rest well and mentally were ready for what they were walking into at the state level,” Szczyrbak said. 

Paulson did not swim but was the alternate, so he watched everything. “I think our team did very good in general, and I believe that we all lived up to the expectations that our coaches set for us. We went to State and really competed well in the pool,” Paulson said. 

Coach Szczyrbak said, “My expectation for next year is that we capitalize on the growth we saw this year.  The boys now know what the expectations of the coaching staff will be walking in on day one, and they know the potential of themselves and their teammates. Hard work and discipline is what drives us to success, and those two things are staples of what you can always expect to see from the CF men’s swimming team.” 

“The seniors can not wait to come back and watch swim meets next year to see where the new team will go,” Paulson said.