The lights shimmered and reflected off the SHS pool’s water with balloons swaying back and forth on the windows as the SHS Swimming and Diving team prepared for their senior night matchup against the Ben Davis Giants on Thursday, Jan. 22.
As the festivities began, the seniors for both the boys and girls teams were announced. They were accompanied by their families, given gift baskets by their teammates and cheered on by the fans.
After the celebration and laughter was complete, it was time for the swimmers to lock in at the giant task at hand and look towards victory.
The night started off hot with both squads finishing first in 200-yard medley relays, tacking on six points to each team’s total.
The first place finishes continued as senior Faith Johnson ended with a time of 2:02 in the 200-yard freestyle.
As the boys prepared for their freestyle heat, there were issues with the timer, causing a minor delay. But this didn’t faze freshman Nolan Harmon. He passed each one of his competitors and pulled out the victory.
The Cards continued to dominate early with wins in the girls’ 200-yard individual medley and both sets of 50 meter freestyles.
Senior Matthew Miers was the next senior to get involved, placing first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24 seconds to round out the first half of swims.
Assistant coach Olivia Brown believes that Miers was one of the main contributors against the Giants because of his energy outside the pool and his times in it.
“He is always just pulling out quick times and cheering people on,” Brown said. “He’s always positive and a great anchor for the relays.”
After a mix of dives by junior Collin Adams and sophomore Olivia Black, the swimmers got back in the pool after a break in the action.
It started off slow for the Cards with a second place finish in the girls’ 100-meter butterfly, but senior Wali Ali came in with a win of his own in the heat of the event.
The 100-yard freestyle produced two second place finishes that could’ve diminished the scores for both squads, but the 500-yard freestyle was where the battle really began for the girls.
The longest event of the night, with 20 laps, couldn’t stop Johnson. She won by almost a full pool length and at 5:50, she had the fastest time for both boys and girls in the event.
Johnson believes the aspect of enjoying the night helped change the atmosphere of the meet, not just for the seniors but for the whole team.
“The vibe was just ‘have fun.’ Don’t let it be a stressful meet. Just kind of go out, and try your hardest, and have fun,” Johnson said.
After having just one relay so far, the Cards got back at it in the team portion of events with the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The girls took the show with their second relay win of the night. The boys, on the other hand, had some work cut out for them.
After a slow start out of the gate, seniors Wali Ali and Lal Mawi gained ground, but it was Miers who stepped up and made the late pass to give the boys the win in the event.
“It felt pretty good,” Miers said. “I didn’t know if I was going to pass him, but it was pretty nice.”
The meet concluded with the 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke and 400-yard freestyle relay and more points to be added to the final total.
The boys came up short with a 111-66 final, but the girls narrowly edged out the Giants with a score of 93-92.
Brown reflected on what the seniors have done this season and how much they put into this team.
“(They’re) just setting really good examples for the underclassmen especially,” Brown said. “They’re always bringing good energy and keeping spirits high when it’s cold and dark and nobody wants to swim.”
The team will be looking for victory as they travel to Warren Central to battle the Warriors this coming Tuesday at 6 p.m.
