After weeks of exciting meets, close races, and daring dives, the 2023-2024 Northside Men’s Swim and Dive season has concluded. The team made quite the splash this year as they swam their way to success.
Head coach Mr. Charles Sell says that the season was “fantastic,” noting that he was very proud of the progress the team made, particularly swimmers at the junior varsity level.
Team co-captain Ryan Schubeck, one of three co-captains (Adv. 407) added, “everyone showed so much improvement, especially our [junior varsity] team from the beginning of the season all the way to the city championship.”
The team started the season off with a lot of momentum by winning their first three meets against other schools.
Later on in the season, senior and co-captain Gavin Stiglitz (Adv. 409) qualified for the state finals, the only swimmer on the team to do so.
“Having [Stiglitz] qualify for a state level and going with him there was a really cool experience for me as a coach” Mr. Sell said.
Another accomplishment for the team was placing fourth in both the varsity city championships and sectionals at the state level.
Co-captain Jay Huang (Adv. 601) pointed to senior leadership as a key part of the team’s growth this year. “The seniors [on the team] have massive amounts of experience with competitive swimming and gave knowledge to younger swimmers. They are the bond that holds the team together as they provide leadership and initiative to propel people to be the best they can be.”
Schubeck said he and fellow senior and team captain Gavin Stiglitz worked to “mentor the younger students… encouraging them to show up and give it their all at practice.”
Echoing this sentiment, Mr. Sell added, “Ryan and Gavin are the two seniors [on the team], and both of them definitely embraced the [idea that] the foundation they could lay for this season is going to shape the future of the program. They both were constantly thinking about that, they had it on their mind every day.”
This leadership was very apparent during the Junior Varsity City Championships. Varsity swim members who were not competing attended the competition to cheer on the JV team, according to Mr. Sell.
When asked about goals for the next season, Mr. Sell emphasized the importance of continuing to grow the success of the program. “Having one swimmer go [to state] is a great step in the right direction, having more go [next year] is a bigger step in the right direction.”
Mr. Sell was optimistic about the future of the team. “Proving our worth through our progress in the next season is going to be key. As long as the underclassmen continue coming to practice, embracing the sport, and working hard, without a doubt, we’ll have very good momentum for the program for the next couple of years.”
