A swim coach stands by the side of the pool with his arms raised, anticipating the moment when his medley relay team touches first to win a state championship. As the anchors of all eight teams in the water race toward the finish, the coach can’t help but think about how much this win will mean not only for the swimmers, but for the program as a whole.
The swimmers touch, and the coach glances immediately at the scoreboard in excitement, looking for the signature win he has been searching for ever since he joined the program. However, he is unable to find what he is looking for, as instead of a one next to his team’s name, he finds a two.
Yet again, his swimmers had fallen short of a state championship when they were right there to win it, something that has developed into a common theme for the team during this coach’s tenure.
The swim coach in question is Patrick Winter. An assistant coach for the team dating back to 2018, Winter has helped to resurrect the program from the bottom ranks of the county. “The first freshman class I coached, we went from the bottom of Division 2 that year to winning Division 1 in 2022-23; we used to be a joke and an afterthought, and after that first place finish it felt like we arrived,” Winter said.
With back-to-back state runner-up finishes in 2022-23 and 2023-24, the team seemed primed to make a breakthrough in the 2024-25 season, but a graduating class that saw four team record holders being sent off ultimately left the team shorthanded for that season. The result was a disastrous 0-5 dual meet record after going 4-1 or better the past two years, and a last place finish at Divisionals, which resulted in a demotion for this upcoming season.
Senior captain Aiden Scherr, who was a member of last year’s team, recalls the disappointment that he felt regarding the team’s last place finish. “We did the best with what we were given, but more importantly, the social aspect was not what it had been in years prior,” Scherr said.
However, Scherr is optimistic about a turnaround, both in swimming performance and in the social department as well. ‘I think we can make some real changes and start implementing new ideas and traditions,” Scherr said.
While the change in leadership both at the coaching and captain levels of the team aim to implement an improved sense of community to foster both fast swimming and a healthy team culture, the most important aspect that will determine the team turnaround is the freshmen class. Freshman Josh Downie is one of several newcomers to join the swim with times that could score at postseason meets, something that this school hasn’t seen since the 2022-23 season. “I’m very excited for the season and I feel like as long as we try our best and are happy with the results, that’s all we can ask for,” Downie said.
It will be up to him and the rest of the freshman class to provide support to a team with a whole new collection of captains and a change in leadership at the top. However, Downie knows that buying into the team culture is the first priority of any high school swim team. “[I’m] really looking forward to making new friends and trying something new,” Downie said.
