One of the most overlooked sports at Academic Magnet is swimming. Often times when swimmers walk the halls of Magnet, no one knows that after school they are practicing late into the night, going home, completing the abundance of homework that was assigned, eating a scary amount of helpings at the dinner table, and then falling asleep before their head hits the pillow. It’s truly tiring and a vicious cycle. Now I’m not saying that all the other athletes don’t do all of this too, but at Magnet there’s constantly press and media showcasing the football team, the basketball team, and we all are heavily informed when soccer season comes around…

But anyway, this article is to shed light on the wonderful swim team of Academic Magnet. Here is the team roster for this season:

Girls

Allison Rauls (12)

Simone Kavarana (12)

Harrison Babb (12)

Piper Monk (maybe)

Lily Feingold (11)

Genevieve Geils (10)

Lauren Nadeau (10)

Sarah Burnette (10)

Mia Matthews (10)

Phoebe Covode (9)

Paisley Hodges (9)

Carolyn Selvidge (9)

Boys

Charles Blanc (12)

Sam White (12)

Stephen Savage (12)

Jack Levenson (12)

Seth Early (12)

Mark Condon (12)

Daniel Nichols (12)

Alexander Hernandez (11)

Charles Olsen (11)

Jack Austin (11)

Eric Beaver (11)

Sean Healy (11)

Justin Baek (11)

Kyle Hertwig (11)

Andrew Nichols (9)

Caleb Anderson (9)

Jacob Miner (9)

Taylor Aquino (9)

Leo Li (9)

I arrived to practice a few minutes early to talk to some of our swimmers and this is what I got-

Talking to senior, Sam White, I asked him, “Why do you swim?” 

To which he replied: “Because swimming is the sexiest sport”

To which senior Seth Early added: “Only when you’re at practice”

Daniel Nichols (12) is a freestyler and asset to the team, however he told me that his least favorite thing about swimming is when he has to swim at practice. How ironic of him. 

Freshman Phoebe Covode says she enjoys practice because she’s able to hangout with her friends after school while getting a workout. It’s really a win-win.    

The Raptors have swum in three meets this season and all of them have been competitive and fun. Both the girls and boys team are looking strong to take us to state again. The most recent meet was last night, September 12th and Raptors came out on top beating both James Island and West Ashley. 

The rest of the season schedule is subject to change, but here is what we have so far:

9/17- @ the Shadow Moss Community Pool in West Ashley 6pm

9/24- @ LTP pool in Mount Pleasant vs. Oceanside 6pm

9/26- @ Pierce Park Pool on Daniel Island vs. Bishop England 6pm

10/12- STATE MEET @ USC Columbia 11am 

Senior night is upcoming and TBD! 

We are hopeful for another great season! 

As always, go Raptors!