The St. Louis U. High Swim and Dive team drove the Chaminade Red Devils straight out of their own house on Monday in a riveting closure to the regular season.

The swimming phenoms had trained through blood, sweat, and tears to be where they were, competing against the best of the best. But their Monday meet may have been the hardest they had ever undertaken. Only a week before, CCP had stolen the Jr. Bills’ 400 freestyle relay pool record under their noses. The Jr. Bills relentlessly toiled and labored throughout the week and weekend, preparing to take their revenge on Chaminade for this intolerable act in Monday’s great test of skill.

Chaminade and SLUH both boast a strong lineup of swimmers that excitedly prepped for their climactic head-to-head on Sunday. Among these is Trey Cunneen, a Chaminade junior well-known for his state-qualifying times in the 500 and 200 free competitions. However, SLUH’s four-person powerhouse of distance swimmers stood ready to test out their strength against him in the Chaminade pool.

“Chaminade has a few really top swimmers,” commented head coach Lindsey Ehret. “They are going to present some of the tougher competition we've had in dual meets this year.”

Emotions ran high in the days before the meet, as both sides held firm in their unwavering belief in victory. The Jr. Bills, however, knew there could only be one winner.

“They’ve been bad mouthing us all week, and I’m ready for some vengeance,” said senior Chris St. John.

“I’m feeling angry,” added senior Brendan Schroeder.

As the Jr. Bills burst out onto the Chaminade deck, senior captain Joe Zarrili gathered the team. Fists raised for one of their last cheers of the season, the team recited the Prayer for Generosity, a timeless tradition in the Swim & Dive program, fire blazing in their eyes. And then, the Jr. Bills got down to business.

The meet kicked off with the 200 medley relay, always known to be a tough, competitive event. SLUH’s star-studded relay team fought neck-and-neck with Chaminade’s until the last lap, but was barely outpaced by 0.12 seconds. But no morale was lost—the cheers only got louder for the subsequent 200 freestyle relay, as SLUH’s freshman Connor Dunker, sophomore Greyson Mueller, and sophomore Jaden Yarborough stepped up to the blocks, right alongside Chaminade golden boy Trey Cunneen.

Halfway through the swimmers’ eight-lap race, spectators caught their breath as they saw Dunker glide swiftly ahead, passing up Cunneen. And as he slammed into the wall on his final lap, cheers erupted and the scoreboard lit up with his time: a 1:47. Dunker had matched his personal season best without the added speed of a tech racing suit, leaving Cunneen reeling three seconds behind and adding the meet to his streak of eight 200 freestyle victories in a row. 

As these first two events foreshadowed, the meet continued to bounce back and forth between the two powerhouses. The nerves and excitedness that both teams had bottled up approaching the meet burst out, as Chaminade and SLUH fenced off again and again in the water and teammates screamed their lungs out with words of encouragement. 

“In one word, I’d say the environment was electric,” said junior Mattie Peretz. “As a swim team, we really came together. We were a couple men down, but like everything else this season, we overcame our adversities.”

SLUH continued to have standout performances, including one by freshman Wills Dino, who stepped in to swim the 500 freestyle after Yarbrough was forced to take a knee for a finger injury from the 200 free. He turned in an impressive 5:07.10, and even placed second for the 100 backstroke only two events later. Sophomore Charlie Hill also shocked with a 2:04 in the grueling 200 IM, his personal record without using a tech suit.

Even after the devastating 200 medley loss, SLUH’s relays redeemed themselves with first place photo-finishes in both the 200 free relay and 400 free relay. In fact, the SLUH’s B relay squad outpaced their own A relay teammates in the 400.

“I was the anchor and I barely out-touched the guy in the A relay,” said Charlie Hill. “So that was awesome.”

With that, the meet came to a close, and SLUH was announced the winner. Aided by their riveting relay victories and Dunker’s single-handed dominance, the Jr. Bills had crushed the Red Devils 110-73.

“I thought everyone came out wanting to win and had that mentality the whole meet,” said freshman George Albert. “We had really strong swims.”

As the season is coming to a close for varsity, JV as well will fight in their last meet, squaring up in the JV MCC tournament this Saturday at Chaminade. JV has had few meets this season, forced to use only a 20-yard pool, 5 yards short of the norm because of the loss of the FPCC pool this season to renovations. Despite this disadvantage, the JV team is more ready than ever to crush the opposing teams in their final opposition. During the weeks approaching the meet, the team worked twice as hard with much tougher, more grueling practices. This being only their second meet of the season, the pressure is on to succeed and speed past the four other MCC teams. 

“I’m excited and I think we're gonna do really well … we’ve practiced a lot and I think it's gonna pay off,” said freshman Wilson Scher. “I’ve improved a lot from the beginning of the season.”

Sophomore Derek Nester was one of the many swimmers who has improved drastically throughout the course of the season. The swimmers have excelled above and beyond, representing the pinnacle of hard work. 

“I feel energized and excited,” said Nester. “I did horrible in my first meet, but now I’m the best butterflier on the team.”

As the team grew closer, they formed bonds and friendships that will last all throughout high school, encouraging each other during practices. 

 “Compared to the beginning of the season, we were a combination of kids who didn’t really know each other,” responded junior varsity coach Robert Hill. 

When asked if he thought the JV team could win, Hill responded with an emphatic yes.

 “Our team is devoted, big, and fast,” he commented. 

Alongside their JV brothers, varsity has arrived at the foothills of the dramatic and monumental conclusion to their season. Tomorrow, they will face off against multiple other area schools in the MICDS Invite, which will be the last race of the season for many of the swimmers not qualifying for state.

“I think I can drop a lot of time (at this meet),” said freshman Ethan Hill, who will swim the 50 and 100 free. “When I first started this season, I was not doing my best, but now I’m better than I’ve ever been before that. I’m really happy and proud of this season.”

Without a breath for air, the Jr. Bills will jump immediately afterwards into the varsity MCC tournament on Saturday and Sunday. After turning in their Chaminade W, the Jr. Bills have already beaten each of the other four MCC teams individually in dual meets this season, promising good things for the weekend’s competition. However, the team still has its hands full with the state meet on Nov. 10-11 approaching fast, which will require impeccable preparation and training for SLUH to return to a podium spot like 2021’s third-place victory.

“(Focusing) on the details of the sport—starts, turns, breakouts, finishes, and giving some of the team some rest—is how we've been preparing for the end of the season,” said Ehret.

Many of SLUH’s swimmers are still vying for a place in the state competition, which accepts the best 32 swimmers of each event from across Missouri.

 “(Coach Ehret) is working us hard and we’re still trying to get a couple more guys into state,” said Hill. “It’ll be exciting to see if they can get their times at the upcoming meets this weekend.” 

With faith and confidence, both the JV and varsity teams are ready to tackle the weekend’s competitions, hoping to prove SLUH’s area superiority in the sport once again.