The Girls Swim Team closed out their season with an amazing run at state. Compared to last year’s finish, they climbed up 12 spots, finishing 16th, with 46 points. ETHS sent 9 swimmers to state this year, who competed in multiple individual events and team relay events. The competitors representing the Kits were seniors Annika Wartowski, Merril Short, and Tacy Jamison, juniors Vanya Gojakovic, Susanna Keller, and sophomores Nina Gatchell and Talia Wexler, with alternates Brooke Bowman and Maddie Baxter. The high numbers of attendees downstate were a pure reflection of the work the Kits had put in all season.
“All the hard work done throughout the 3 months of high school will pay off in this moment. Our team has been doing amazing things throughout the season, and going into the state meet, we were ready to swim fast,” states Gojakovic.
The state swim meet is structured the same as a normal meet, the events are in the same order, and even the breaks are at the same time. A difference between a regular meet and the state meet is that it’s a prelims and finals meet. A prelims finals meet is a meet that is broken into two sessions. Swimmers compete in the prelims on Friday, and then the finals take place on Saturday. Another big difference is that there are about 100 teams competing at this meet, whereas typical meets are usually just dual meets.
ETHS made four events in the finals, battling for medals and a spot on the podium. The team’s hard work paid off, placing 7th in the 200 medley relay (A final), 13th in the 200 freestyle relay (B final), Gojakovic placing 8th in the 200 individual medley (A final), and Gojakovic also placing 14th in the 100 backstroke event (B final).
“The biggest progression came in their confidence, especially towards the end of the season,” expressed Head Coach Kevin Auger.
The Kist accomplishments were not limited to their run at State. In the regular season, Gojakovic broke the 50 freestyle varsity record, the 200 individual medley varsity record, and was 0.01 seconds off from breaking the 100 backstroke varsity record. Furthermore, the team had a big win when they broke the 200 freestyle relay varsity record. Taking home 4 medals at State was the cherry on top of their outstanding and record-breaking season.
“Though there were some races I would have liked to be faster on, I always take those as a learning opportunity and use them to shape my goals for the future,” Gojakovic noted. “But in the end, we saw so much improvement across the board, and I really think the biggest takeaway is seeing how all the work we’ve done paid off.”
