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On February 3, the JV and Varisty boys’ swim teams claimed the top spot at the annual Upstate Eight Conference (UEC) championship that was hosted by West Chicago Community High School.
The JV team claimed the victory by about 50 points and the Varsity team won by about 80 points.
“I was really happy with the way that the boys performed,” coach Troy Murray said.
A few days before the meet, most of the swimmers tapered in the hopes of a strong performance at conference. Tapering is when swimmers rest more and decrease their practice time in order to swim to their best ability at big competitions.
“Every boy who tapered set personal best times, which is saying something because a lot of those boys train year-round on club teams,” Murray said.
A number of personal and pool records were set at the UEC championship meet. Many swimmers beat their personal records and decreased their times dramatically. Senior Brady Johnson beat two personal records in the 100 meter freestyle and breaststroke.
“Alejandro Jacob set a new conference JV record in the 100 breast. Several of the boys who did not taper had personal best untapered times, which shows that they swam very fast. Brady Johnson is probably the one on varsity who really stood out, setting two pool records himself and swimming in the 400 free relay that set a pool record,” Murray said.
The swimmers on both teams trained continuously this season to prepare for this big meet. The athletes train in the pool, of course, but they also lift in the weight room.
“By getting my mind ready to perform at a higher level, by preparing my body and getting the recovery I needed to perform better. I gave it my all,” JV swimmer and WEGO freshman Nery Banuelos Cabral said.
Diving was also a strong point for the team at this competition. Freshman Peter Day broke two school records in diving on Saturday. The record had not been broken since 1986.
The team collectively improved their times to pull out the win. In terms of personal records, senior Brady Johnson shattered two: for 100 meter freestyle and 100 meter breaststroke. Ryan Fors, Nathan Lindstrom, and Sam Ortiz joined Johnson for the 400 meter relay and set a new record of 3:09.55.
“When I figured out WEGO had won, I wasn’t surprised at all. The work the boys have put in the past twelve weeks to prepare for Saturday was nothing short of excellence. I was proud of the focus we put into training which was projected at the meet on Saturday. At the same time, I put a lot of weight on my own shoulders when setting goals for the meet. I was going for three pool records, and thankfully got all three of them. Without even looking at the board, I heard the roar of the crowd behind my back and knew I had accomplished what I came in to do,” Johnson said.
The UEC championship comes on the heels of the girls’ subsequent win at a similar competition, demonstrating the strength of the co-op team.
“Racing is just showing off the skills you’ve been training while people are watching. The past 12 weeks I’ve given my all to the sport thanks to Coach Troy, Josh, and Coach D, and am proud of what I was able to accomplish this past weekend. This is only the beginning of the champ season and I can’t wait to see what’s coming from our Wildcats in the upcoming weeks,” Johnson said.
