Diving ahead of the competition, streamlining through the water, the Jesuit Swimming recently competed at the District Championships and saw tremendous success. The meet, on the 27th of January, saw Jesuit achieve third-place in the Championships at DISD’s Alfred J. Loos Natatorium.
Coach’s thoughts
Head Swimming Coach, Coach Moyse, was very impressed with the performance of the team despite the challenges they faced, providing some feedback on the teams effort he said “We swam great at the District meet but had some tough luck in terms of guys getting sick, hurt, or disqualified at or prior to the meet. Guys like Michael Hasenfratz, Adam Chamblee, Jake Follet, Jackson Powell, and Teddy Scherer all had huge drops and lifetime-best swims. Despite all the adversity, the meet ended on a good note with us winning the 400 free relay with the District 7-6A Male Swimmer of the Meet (William Savarese) coming from several body lengths behind to overtake JJ Pearce at the finish. Coach Thain had three scoring divers (Trey Smith, Garrett Spears, and Sam An) despite losing her best diver a couple of weeks prior to the meet due to an injury.
Results
Astounding individual performance was exhibited from across the team, but especially by senior Leonardo Pelaez, and junior William Savarese, both of whom set district records. Pelaez swam a 1:41.64 in the 200-meter free, providing the Rangers their first win of the meet. Savarese placed first in the 200 I.M with a 1:52.94, shattering the previous district record. Both of these swimmers achieved a spectacular achievement worthy of pride and celebration. Savarese also placed first in the 500 meter free, followed closely behind by Pelaez in second.
“districts was a great opportunity to show off our great team. I can’t wait for our regionals. Congratulations to all who made it there” – sophomore Samuel Carley ’25
Other notable achievements include freshman Luke Lary’s second-place finish in the 100-meter fly, with a time of 55.27. Lary, Sam Kennington, Alexander McSorley, and Theodore Scherer placed third in the 200 free relay to also place into regionals. The Rangers finished out the district championships with a win in the 400-meter free relay. The team of Pelaez, Lary, Jaden Giunta, and Savarese, performed excellently against fierce competition from J.J Pearce, finishing only 0.13 seconds ahead.
“Despite not reaching our goals, our hard work was shown and the team really stepped up to the plate. I believe Jesuit’s presence on the podium, which included our underclassmmen, is a real testament to the talent and potential the team holds. WE will be back and better than ever next year” – Sophomore Michael Hasenfratz, JV Captain
Jesuit finished the meet with 110 points, placing them third behind Highland Park with 145 points, and J.J Pearce with 135. As a result of their great performances, 10 Jesuit swimmers earned places to compete at regionals in over 15 events.
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