This week, the St. Louis U High Swim and Dive team put two more victories under its belt, and now the swimmers nervously prepare to test their skills against powerful teams from across the state at Mizzou this Saturday.

        Last Saturday, the Jr. Bills piled into Chaminade’s Athletictron to face off against the De Smet Spartans in the first of these two meets. The two teams faced off in event after event as the referee’s starting buzzer echoed throughout the pool, and a clear victory was apparently at hand for SLUH. The team won every event against De Smet, and divers sophomore Jack Kelly and freshman Harry McGuire also garnered a moment of glory, winning ten points for the team in the 1-meter dives. SLUH won the meet 141-39.

        Encouraged by this swooping victory, the team flew into week seven of the season with its first tri meet on Tuesday, clashing with Lafayette and Oakville. Having won their past six meets, the team warmed up with high hopes, relaxed and laughing.

However, as soon as SLUH, Lafayette, and Oakville swimmers soared off the block for the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, SLUH saw from the sidelines the real level of competition they faced—many of Lafayette’s swimmers touched in seconds before SLUH’s best. The meet had shaped up to be more difficult than many on the team had expected. With the extra challenge of a tri meet, SLUH’s depth and solidity across numerous events wouldn’t be as beneficial, and the team would need to strive for first and second place finishes.

        “Tri meets can be challenging because of how it limits the boost our depth usually gives us, because we can only score in two places and not three,” explained head coach Lindsey Ehret. “Lafayette has some big guns, so we stacked our lineup.”

        After a defeat in the 200 medley, SLUH won in numerous other events, including the 500 free in which the “distance dudes”—sophomore Greyson Mueller, sophomore Jaden Yarbrough, and freshman Connor Dunker—clutched all top three spots. The divers—Kelly and junior Nolan Travers—also found an unexpected adversary with some of their first major competition, bested by Jackson Tenny and Adin Peper of Lafayette.

The meet had remained tight throughout, but a wave of relief came over the Jr. Bills as the meet results were announced: 152.5 SLUH to 116 Lafayette to 58.5 Oakville.

With seven impressive wins under its belt and standing next to the season’s halfway mark, the Swim and Dive team has come a long way since the early days of tryout week, growing closer together and bonding through the tough work they contribute inside and outside the pool.

“I think at the start, not many people wanted to do it, but throughout as the season’s gone on, everybody wanted to be there more, and has been pushing each other to be better,” said senior captain Gavin Baldes.

With these early successes, the team is also hopeful to walk out of the state meet on Nov. 11 with a trophy hoisted above their heads. Last year saw them finish in third place, and despite losing key figures this year like Cooper Scharff ’22, who set two Class 2 state records in 2021, the new group has showcased its talent and is hopeful for similar results.

“We want a trophy for state … I really think that we can get top four,” said assistant varsity coach Jason Chumley. “It's definitely a target for us. We were very surprised by the results (earlier this season) in a good way, and that has increased the motivation of the team. A lot of the guys are out there and they're pushing more than they probably would have if we didn't have the success that we had.”

In the meantime, the team’s current prowess will be tested in tomorrow’s COMO meet, at Mizzou in Colombia, Mo. This annual meet brings together major teams from across the state, including Class 1 and Class 2 schools as well as SLUH’s Kansas City rivals like Rockhurst and Lee’s Summit West, and will serve as a checkpoint for what the playing field will look like at state in two months.

“I'm hopeful that some people will have some really good times and that they surprise everybody. … I’m excited for the energy,” said Baldes. “COMO was exciting last year, but I think that we can match if not do better than that this year because we have either equal or more depth than we did.”