The Aquatic Owls set six new MUS swim records this season with sheer hard work and teammanship. However, setting records wasn’t the team’s only accomplishment. Other remarkable successes included an overall season record of 54-17, a second-place finish at the Shelby County Championships, 20 state qualifying times, and wins over Chattanooga’s Baylor School and Notre Dame High School.
Breaking the MUS swim record five times this year, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of John Goldsmith, Cody Mayer, Dex Witte, and Daniel Harriman shattered the 2001 record by an astonishing 7.13 seconds with a new time of 1:34.99. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Erim Sarinoglu, Mayer, Witte, and Hank Wynn broke this record three times, demolishing another 2001 record by an unbelievable 13.87 seconds. Meanwhile, the 200-yard medley relay team of Sarinoglu, Wynn, Aaron Struminger, and Harriman set their sights on the MUS record early in the season before tying it at the County Championships and breaking it at the State Meet with a new time of 1:48.82. In addition to new relay records, several new individual MUS records were also posted this year. Wynn reset the standard three times in the 100-yard breaststroke finally posting a 1:08.81 at the state meet and a 30.69 in the 50-yard breaststroke. Harriman set a MUS record twice in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing things up at state with a 51.66.
With no division between public and private schools in swimming, competition in Shelby County is deep. A regular season record of 27-2 included wins over Germantown, White Station, Ridgeway, Briarcrest, Lausanne, ECS, Collierville, and St. George’s. The MUS team was awarded the second-place men’s division trophy at the Germantown Invitational, with 11 teams competing.
The Aquatic Owls traveled to Chattanooga to compete in the McCallie Invitational—the only team west of Nashville to be invited. With formidable competition from 22 eastern and central Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina teams, and no divers to help score points, the Owls stepped up to the challenge. Three relay teams and an outstanding performance from Harriman gave the team a fourteenth-place finish that included wins over Baylor, Notre Dame High School, and Atlanta’s Lovett School.
The High School Swimming Championships were held at the University of Memphis and finished off the regular season for the 15 men’s teams in Shelby County. All 31 MUS swimmers had at least one county qualifying time, and as a team, amassed 141 cuts. The Aquatic Owls brought back the second-place trophy scoring 541 points, 171 points more than third-place finisher Houston. Individuals scoring points for the team included: seniors Jonathan Barnes, Tommy Horton, Mayer, Parth Sheth, Struminger, Wynn, juniors James Aiken, Collier Calandruccio, Harriman, Zak Kisber, Keith Parsons, Hayden Pendergrass, Eric Reid, Witte, sophomores Bill Bell, Goldsmith, Scott Guinn, Drew Haight, Sarinoglu, Steven Thompson, and freshmen David Harriman and Ross Montague.
The team concluded their season at the Tennessee State High School Swimming Championships in Nashville on February 25 and 26. This intense two-day meet brings over 120 schools and more than 1,200 athletes together for some of the finest swimming in the state. Eight MUS swimmers qualified for 20 individual events—another record for MUS. The 200-yard freestyle relay placed twelfth in prelims Saturday morning and then edged out Morristown West High School in the finals on Saturday evening to finish eleventh in the state. The 200-yard medley relay placed nineteenth overall and the 400-yard freestyle relay team placed twenty-first. In addition, all 11 swimming events had at least one MUS swimmer or relay team entered, and every MUS swimmer met the challenge posting an incredible number of personal best times.
Individual team awards included the Coach’s Award for outstanding leadership to Mayer and Wynn, the Most Valuable Swimmer Award to Struminger, the Spirit Award for dedication to Sarinoglu, and the Most Improved Award to freshman Kenny Krzyzkowski.
In her sixth year coaching the MUS swim team, Coach Laurie Clark was enthusiastic about the team’s performance. “What sets the Aquatic Owls apart from other high school swim teams is their willingness to work for team successes. Their strength comes from being a team, and it shows in the impressive successes of the relays this year. Individual achievement will, and did, follow.”
