St. Louis U. High’s Swim and Dive team is changing it up this year. As they wrap up their first weeks, it’s clear to see that this is a team that is a product of head varsity swim coach Lindsay Ehret’s multi-year development program that has pushed onward behind the scenes, molding non-club and JV swimmers into varsity-ready, determined athletes.

^{Swimmers cheering on teammates.  photo | Lorie Heidbrink}

Ohio State-Michigan, Duke-Kentucky, Red Sox-Yankees, and most importantly, Blue-White on SLUH Swim and Dive. These are but a few of the all time greatest sports rivalries, and this year’s Blue and White intrasquad meet did not disappoint. Last night, Forest Park Community College became a war zone, as over 30 of SLUH’s best swimmers and divers descended  into the pool to try and stake their claim as the better half of the team. 

The meet started out hot, as team Blue’s 200 medley relays whipped through the water, securing the first win, and the mayhem only continued, as the 200 free and 200 IM ended with wins from senior White captain Alex Wiggins and junior captain Elliott Sapp, respectively. 

After that came the 50 free, where sophomore Jacob Corbett slid in with a speedy 22.51, a comfortable victory. 

The diving came next, with an impressive team of six divers, the most SLUH has had in the past four years. Junior Bram Malkus took first place with a score of 152.85 on 6 dives, beating out freshman Dylan Sondrol by almost 50 points. 

After the dive break, senior Blue captain Henry Hassenstab won the 100 butterfly, with senior Matt Franz taking second, and junior Noah Burns placing third, a big win for team White. 

Then came the 100 freestyle, where Wiggins dominated with a 50.65, almost 3 seconds faster than Heidbrink, who came in second. 

Another highlight of the meet was the grueling 500 freestyle, as Hassenstab took home his second win of the meet, with junior Parker Groves and senior Jakob Brinkman taking second and third, respectively. 

The 200 freestyle relay – the fastest of all the relays – came next, as the White team prevailed with key swims from senior John Comerford and junior Owen Van Deven. 

The specialty races, which are the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke came next, and both White and Blue had victories in these, with sophomore Tyler Yates and Corbett winning both respectively. 

Finally, the 400 freestyle relay came about, and the Blue team was able to lock it down with a speedy 3:33.75. With that race, the meet ended with a victory for everyone, as Blue and White tied with a score of 93-93.

With the first meet of the season wrapped up, the team now looks onward to the long season ahead, one that will surely be filled with both hardships and victories. One such hardship is the conditions of the pool at FoPo, which are less than ideal. The main issue that has yet to be solved is that of the UV filter at the pool, which causes the chloramides in the filtration system to settle in the air above the water, causing a whole manner of problems for the swimmers. Without the filtration system in place, the team will have to overcome bad air quality in every practice until it is fixed, which in the long run could cause potential health problems for the swimmers. 

Despite the unfortunate circumstances of the pool, the team is determined to push on and continue to work hard, both in and out of the pool. Tomorrow, the varsity team will hop into Alpine Lake in Innsbrook for a two-mile swim for Swim across America, a charitable organization that aims to raise money for cancer research. A SLUH Swim tradition, the team will garnish themselves in temporary tattoos, write names of loved ones and friends’ loved ones who have fought or are fighting battles with cancer, and swim for something above themselves.

Having their first real meet against reigning Class 1 state champions Parkway Central on Sept. 3 at Central, where two powerhouses will face off against each other in a blazing start to the season, and with it being SLUH’s first time back to Central in 3 years, it will be a new experience for both new and returning faces on varsity. For the new guys, this will be their first varsity meet, and it will be a wild introduction to high level swimming, as Central is a blue-blood in the world of Missouri high school swimming. 

“A first time varsity kid is really fun to watch from start to finish, because you never really know,” said Ehret, “you hope that they can do amazing things.”

Following the meet against Central, the team has a home meet against Parkway South on Sept. 8, and more importantly, the Cape Rock Invitational in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 11. This will be the first taste of what this year’s large competitive meets will look like, and will provide valuable information on how the team operates at these meets. It will be an opportunity to test relay lineups, see progression in events, and also see how the team stacks up against other competitors on the east side of Missouri.

Although the Cape Rock Invitational hosts some of the best eastern swimmers, on Sept. 25 the Jr. Bills will travel to the COMO invitational, a two-day overnight meet in Columbia, Missouri that is as close to state as a meet can get. Here, the Jr. Bills will not only face off against the best teams in the St. Louis area, but also more western teams like Rockhurst and Liberty. These formidable foes will prove to be great difficulties for the team to overcome, and SLUH swim and dive has the capacity to do it, but it will not come easy. 

“It takes people who don't think that they have the ability to start believing in themselves, and to recognize that it’s going to take work to get to that,” said Ehret.

After COMO, the team will have some much-needed breaks from large meets before state, but that doesn't mean that they will stop working. The team molds their bodies, but also their minds with the second annual team retreat, where the team will become more unified before the final days of the season. 

“I’m super excited for our retreat this year, I feel like I want to get closer to my team.” said senior Will Vieth. “ I want to be able to talk about my goals for the season.” 

Ultimately the season will end with the state meet on Nov. 12 and 13, where SLUH will try to keep their three-year long streak of podium finishes alive against fierce competition. One thing is for sure: the road to state will not be easy, but it will be well worth it if the team can rise to the occasion.