At times, swimming can be one of the most overlooked sports at MUS, often being overshadowed by the winter thrills on the basketball court. However, if anyone has overlooked Owl swimmers this year, it certainly could not have been because of lack of performance.
This year, the MUS swimming squad has achieved outstanding recognitions at local and regional competitions. The aquatic Owls have taken 1st place in three of their five county meets, and they gained much midseason momentum with an impressive 2nd place finish in the Germantown Invitational. Earlier in the season, MUS was honored to compete in the McCallie School Invitational, being the only school from West Tennessee to be invited to the event that included schools from Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. With the season winding down, the Owls have an incredible county record of 31-3 and an overall record of 39-16.
MUS swimmers’ success has not come easily this season. Coach Laurie Clark praised the sense of teamwork which the Owls actively respected.
“They have put in a lot of hours at practice,” said Coach Clark. “In order to strengthen the team in events where we lacked depth, several team members worked diligently in strokes and
distances other than their best and did extremely well.”
Many team members have found addition motivation this year in the Sub-60 Club, a new establishment of swimmers that includes those who can swim the 100-meter event in under 60 seconds.
At this point in the season, seven swimmers from MUS have qualified for the State Meet; this number of participants is larger than any other since swimming was brought back to MUS six years ago. Seniors Cody Mayer, Aaron Struminger, and Hank Wynn, juniors Philippe Blais, Daniel Harriman, and Dex Witte, and sophomore Erim Sarinoglu have all qualified to compete in the state competition held in Nashville with over 100 other teams. Despite the large field of participants, the team remains confident with their strengths and has set clear goals for themselves.
“At State this year,” declared Clark, “Our goal is for at least two of our three relay teams to place in the top 16.”
With only one more meet left before the County Championships, the Owls are on pace to reach their goals.