On March 5, the PA Girls Swim and Dive team rounded out their season with an appearance at the VHSL Swim and Dive 5A State Championship Meet. The Lady Cavs placed 19th out of 25 Virginia schools, with several standout swimmers and divers placing well in their events. Junior Gabriella Cooper placed 17th in the girls’ 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.90 seconds. PA’s 200-yard freestyle relay team, consisting of seniors Anna Huang, Justine Pierard, and Tanzie Moore, and freshman Peyton Degaramo, placed 13th overall with a time of 1:45.69.
The Cavalier Dive team also had their share of success. Senior Mathilde Morel, who previously placed third at the Beach District Swim and Dive meet on Feb. 7, placed seventh overall in the girls’ diving event. In the boys’ diving event, sophomore Chase Heatherly earned 12th place, and freshman Trevor Kinser earned 15th place overall.
As a freshman, Degaramo explained that while making states was a goal of hers, she “never expected to make it all the way there.” She said being one of only two freshmen who qualified for the meet was a “really cool” experience for her. “Knowing that I was able to compete at a high level so early, and knowing that I could potentially do it again in the future, it’s a really insane feeling,” she explained.
Degaramo, who has been swimming since she was eight years old, said she relied on the seniors around her for support as she navigated her first states meet. “Having all seniors around me, they’re like my parents,” she said. “I love them so much. They take care of me, and they made the experience so much more fun.”
Sophomore Mollie Tippin, who swam in the 100-meter backstroke and two relays at the regional meet, traveled to states as an alternate. Her role was to fill in for other swimmers in case someone got sick or injured. Although she didn’t swim in the meet, she described the atmosphere as “mind-blowing…when you’re watching the swimmers, you’re like, ‘I have reached the peak athleticism. These are our next Olympians,’” she explained. “It’s so fun, everyone is cheering each other on, and it’s just a really supportive atmosphere.”
The Cavaliers built off of the success they found at their regional meet on Feb. 15. Both the girls’ team and the boys’ team placed well, coming in fifth and ninth, respectively, in the region.
Despite their performance at regionals, the Boys Swim team was unable to qualify for the state meet. “One of the relay teams came within three or four seconds of reaching states,” explained coach Jay Smith. “It was tough. We should have had the boys relay in there. That was our goal: get everyone to states. It’s just getting harder and harder to make it.” Boys Team Captain senior Philip Dan agreed, but he reinforced his main goal for the team: “Even though we didn’t make states, what matters is that everyone improves, and everyone definitely improved over the season.”
Those improvements stemmed from the long practices and hours spent in the pool, where Head Coach Christopher Hakim “tries to find the best [event] for each swimmer and for the team,” he explained. “Someone might come in and say ‘My best event is the 100 freestyle.’ That might be their best event, but for the team, their best placement could be the 100 backstroke. We spend the meets beforehand to try and figure that out so we can run the fastest events.”
At practice, both the girls and boys teams swim together, with the faster swimmers in the same lanes. This year, multiple freshmen stepped up and swam with the stronger swimmers, according to Smith. He is looking forward to the future, where those freshmen who were strong this year will continue to get stronger.
Throughout the regular season, both teams were faced with challenges and triumphs. For the Lady Cavs, their successes started early in the season. Their first win was against Landstown High School on Dec. 6, with a score of 214-78. On the boys’ side, the score was close, but PA fell a few points short, losing 140-153.
According to Hakim, one of the more fun meets to swim in this season was against First Colonial High School. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams were able to defeat FC because the majority of their team was away at a different swim meet. “They weren’t at their full strength, so that was a fun meet for us,” he said.
Along with their regular Friday swim meets, both teams met outside of practice for pasta parties, where they built on their strong connection with each other. According to both Tippin and Degaramo, pasta parties were one of the best parts of the season. “I definitely think that, as a girls’ team, we’ve grown a lot, we’ve bonded a lot,” described Tippin. “People have grown to love the sport more because we have great coaches and great [swimmers].”
