On Friday, January 29th, 2016, the Jesuit Swim team completed a very strong season and came home with two huge victories, winning the district meet for the second straight year over bitter rival Highland Park at Loos Natatorium, and dominating at the JV district meet at the Plano Aquatic Center in Plano.
Head Coach Doug Moyse was very pleased with the team’s performance, sharing, “We did very well. At the varsity district meet we had incredible depth [on the team] which allowed us to score more points than any other team.” Moyse thought that it was a “team effort,” with some swimmers getting “lifetime best times.” Moyse told The Roundup, “To defeat a very strong team like Highland Park despite being out of our practice facility for 2.5 months was somewhat of a surprise.”
That’s right; the swim team was not able to practice at the normal facility for almost half of the season, causing lots of Jesuit swimmers to not practice as much as other teams. This makes the Rangers’ victory all the more impressive. Senior captain Sam Betanzos’16 noted that “It really was a whole team effort. Every guy came together and we swam our hearts out. I think some of the seniors knew that this would be the last time they would swim with each other, which motivated them that much more.” Coach Moyse said, “Almost every single guy out there swam a best time and made it to the regional meet, proving our incredible depth this season.” Jesuit won the meet by 27 points over Highland Park.
Junior leader Eamon Stack was surprised how well the team did, enthusiastically commenting, “We did have quite a bit of pool trouble this year, but that did not stop us from swimming well at the meet.” Stack swam a career-best time in the 500 meter freestyle and advanced to the regional meet.
The Varsity squad weren’t the only ones to perform well; the JV swimmers dominated at their meet as well. The team of Lucas Raney ’18, Josh Betanzos ’18, Jake Carlson ’18, and Colin Feehery ’19 won the 200 medley relay by 11 seconds. Feehery continued to dominate at the meet by winning the 200 meter freestyle and the 100 meter breaststroke. The Rangers continued to put up strong performances by coming in second place in the 200 meter freestyle relay. The relay was made up of Abbas Hussain ’17, Feehery ’19, Joshua Thias ’16, and Raney ’18.
Hussain described the meet as both “exciting.” Abbas, who has swum in the meet for the past 3 years said, “Since I have been here before, it’s my job to help the younger swimmers calm down before races and to stand up as a leader.” Hussain swam well in the meet, posting a lifetime best in the 50 meter freestyle, a time of 23.14 seconds.
Freshman Colin Feehery stated, “It was very exciting to swim in the biggest meet of my Jesuit career. I did get a little nervous before my events, but the older swimmers were there to help us out.” Feehery thought that it “was a total team effort. All of the guys stepped up and swam their hearts out and we really did swim well at the meet.”
The Jesuit swim team dominated at the district meets and look to advance even further through the season. This weekend is the state meet in Austin where senior Brendan Feehery will swim in the 200 meter IM and the 100 meter breaststroke. Feehery holds an Olympic Trials cut and will swim at the trials this summer. Great job and good luck Brendan!
Note: The swim team is in the process of looking for a new facility to practice on a regular schedule. If you have any ideas or information about facilities that the swim team could use, please comment below!
