On Saturday, the eighth of October, the Academic Magnet Raptor swim team embarked on the short journey up to Columbia. Why? Only for the biggest meet of the season, the state championship. Located in the University of South Carolina’s Natatorium, which contains a 25-yard competition pool, a warmup pool, a diving well, and a set of very slippery stairs up to the locker rooms, 29 teams gathered together for the AAA Championships. Anticipating good results from our talented swimmers, the air was thick with anticipation for the meet to start. The seniors were particularly excited for this meet, as we had not had state at the Blatt (and with both teams on the same day) since freshman year.

This year, state presented us with an interesting set of challenges. The meet started abnormally late, 8:00 pm to be exact. After half an hour of delays and struggling with tech suits in the locker room, we had to carve out a section of precious deck space to place our things. Then, the real battle began – the warmup pool. Filled to capacity, 15+ teams must cram their swimmers into 1-2 lanes and hope that the warmup does not cause any contact injuries. To give it a little credit, the warmup pool is a great place to sit and watch the races through the holes in the bulkhead that separates the pools. We were granted a fantastic cheering spot, right next to the starting side of the pool. The meet was filled with the screams of parents and teammates and the strong sense of a team that we have found with Raptor swimmers. As the meet drew to a close (11:30 PM!!), everyone began their journeys home, (mostly) content with the outcome of the night.

For many Raptors, this meet brought many visits to the podium. For the girls, Julia Reed (10) placed second in the 200 Free and the 400 Free Relay (Lily Burnette (10), Josie Vollmer (10), Isa Jickling (9), and Julia Reed (10)) placed third. Julia Reed had a very successful meet, tying for ninth place overall, a silver and a bronze medal, and two team records broken! She broke the 200 Free record with a 1:57.41 and the 100 Back record with a 1:01.05. The boys walked away with second place in the 200 Medley Relay (Jack Troy (10), Andrew Nichols (12), Joey Schady (10), and Kyle Hertwig (12)) and the 200 Free Relay (Kyle Hertwig (12), Tyler Nelson (10), Andrew Nichols (12), and Jack Troy (10)). Individually, Kyle Hertwig (12) placed first in the 50 Free and 100 Fly and Jack Troy (10) placed first in the 100 Back.

Both the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay broke team records, with the 200 Medley going a 1:35.90 and the 200 Free going a 1:27.09. Kyle Hertwig (12) broke the team records in 50 Free, with a 20.76, and in 100 Fly, with a 50.99. Jack Troy (10) broke the team record in 100 Back with a time of 50.23. Overall, the girls placed fifth with a total score of 217 and the boys placed third with 340 points. We are incredibly proud of all of the swimmers that swam this season and without them, we would not have been able to perform so well in Columbia.

Now that the season has come to a close, your Raptor swimmers have been granted well-earned time to relax and focus on school again. Nevertheless, the swimmers will be back with full force in August 2023. The seniors have been left with a bittersweet feeling, knowing that they accomplished much in their time on the team but also leaving close friends and teammates behind as they continue on to college. We hope that next season brings even more success, but for now the Academic Magnet Swim Team will be focusing on the other half of being student athletes, the rigor of the Magnet curriculum.