Wakeland Swim dominated at their Districts meet on Jan 21.

The boys placed 1st, winning with a final score of 200 points. 

“[We did] great! The boys placed first and the girls placed second behind Reedy. We had many District Champions, 7 meet records and 1 pool record,” Captain junior Jonathan Michaels said. 

This marks the fourth year in a row that the boys have placed 1st.

“Placing 1st for the fourth year in a row is very meaningful for the guys’ team. We carry on a legacy that was set since us seniors were freshmen,” senior Tate Bladon said. 

While the boys placed 1st, the girls placed 2nd. 

“We did really well! Boys team placed 1st and the girls team finished 2nd by only 11 points behind,” senior Mckenna Orleans said.

The girls were behind Reedy High School by 11 points.

Sophomore Graycen Hubbard, junior Eleni Simatacolos, junior Logan Morris, and junior Natalie Liu set a new district meet record for the Girls 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:52.04.

Michaels, senior Alex Udrys, senior Conor Mckenna, and junior Aidan Tenkhoff set a new district meet record for the Boys 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:34.58.

Freshman Jackson Armour broke the Boys 200 Individual Medley, setting a new district meet record with a time of 1:55.21.

“I personally did a lot better than I expected. [I was] definitely surprised to see I broke one, I didn’t really know I did until the next day,” Armour said. 

Sophomore Timmy Robertson set a new district meet record for the 1 meter dive with 329.25 meters. 

Sophomore Lukas Vetkoetter set a new district meet record for the Boys 500 Freestyle with a time of 4:39.06.

Armour, Tenkhoff, Bladon, and senior Matthew Beard set a new district meet record for the Boys 200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:27.87.

Michales set a new district meet record for the Boys 100 Backstroke with a time of 51.56.

“I performed right where I wanted to be. I was able to help the team win Districts and I qualified in all my events,” Michaels said. “It feels great to leave a legacy with the meet and pool records.”

Many of the boys performed well including Conor McKenna.

“I performed well. I won both of my individual events, and contributed relay legs to two of the winning relays,” Mckenna said.

The boys accomplished many goals during the district season to earn the winning title.

“One other really cool accomplishment was all 4 Wakeland guys in the 100 fly placed in the top 6 out of all 11 schools in our district (i.e. advancing to regionals),” McKenna said.

With all the new records set by the team, they plan to bring the same energy to State.

“The team as a whole did well, keeping team morality high and plan to all the way up to State,” senior Noelle Tong said. 

Throughout the remainder of this season, the team plans to achieve getting both the boys and girls to State. 

“Winning Districts was a beginning of the season goal, and being able to accomplish it in such a dominant fashion was reward,” senior Jack Carson said. “It also served as a confidence booster going into Regionals.”

The team is focused on preparing for their upcoming Regionals meet in Feb.. Depending on their performance, it will determine who goes to State on Feb. 18 and 19. 

“We are training super hard for region coming up in 2 weeks, really giving 110% at morning practice,” Orleans said. 

Overall, both boys and girls Wakeland Swim teams did amazing at districts taking 1st and 2nd place.

The next meet will be the Region 3-5A Championship, which will take place Thurs. Feb. 3rd-Sat. the 5th.