Swim and Dive Team Place at Regionals, Take 13 to State

Shreyush Shankar, Photographer| February 6, 2020

  • Sonny Wang ’23 cheers on fellow freshman Grady Radcliff as he races the 200-yard Individual Medley. Both swimmers picked up team freshman records at this meet.

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  • Max Vinnik ’22 prepares for the grueling 200-yard freestyle, with the words “Swim4Shauna” engraved down his left arm. Vinnik qualified for finals with a time of 1:48.76.

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  • Caleb Farris ’20 celebrates the 4 x 50-yard free relay victory and the fastest split in the field of 20.28. He is committed to swim Division I at American University in the fall.

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  • KyAnh Truong ’21 hunts down the competition in a blazing fast 50.66 100-yard freestyle. This time places her first in the region and seeded sixth for the state competition.

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  • The team of Nathan Early ’20, Joshua Louie ’20, Sonny Wang ’23 and Caleb Farris ’20 prepare to race the 4 x 100-yard freestyle relay. They finished in second place, advancing to state.

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  • Caleb Farris ’20 anchors the 4 x 100-yard freestyle relay to 2nd place after a difficult session of swimming. Farris anchored all three of the boys’ relays at regionals.

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  • Sadie Runeman ’21 finishes her 200-yard Individual Medley, and touches in 2nd place with a new school record. The record was previously held by Lauren Davis, who set it in 2001.

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The Swim & Dive Team competed at Regional Championships in Mansfield, TX, with prelims on Friday, Jan. 31 and finals on Saturday, Feb. 1. The boys’ team placed second behind Westlake High School while the girls’ team placed fourth against tough competition.

“This year, we crushed it at regionals. Everyone has worked so hard, and I’m proud of where the team is headed,” Captain Caleb Farris ‘20 said. 

This hard work has certainly paid off, with coach Matthew McBrearty bringing the largest team he ever has to the State Championships in two weeks.

“All we need going into state is to keep our momentum going,” Farris said.

The team earned 11 medals and broke many records over the weekend in Mansfield. Sonny Wang ‘23 destroyed the school freshman records in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles, and Grady Radcliffe ‘23 broke the freshman record in the 200-yard Individual Medley. Not to be outdone, the girls team broke four records – KyAnh Truong ‘21 broke her own 100-yard freestyle record, Sadie Runeman ‘21 broke her own 100-yard backstroke record and shattered a 19-year-old record in the 200-yard Individual Medley, and finally, the team of Ayame Castel ‘22, Emma Greene ‘20, Sadie Runeman ‘21, and KyAnh broke the 4 x 100-yard freestyle record to seal an eventful Regionals for the Warriors. 

“I’ve never been a part of something as special as the Westwood Swim & Dive team before,” Runeman said. “I wasn’t focused on records or times, so I guess it was just an added bonus!”

Along with stellar performances in the pool, the Swim Team showed their love for their coach outside of the pool.  Coach McBrearty recently had a death in the family, and captain Grace Bradford ‘20 gathered the team to support him by writing “Swim4Shauna” down their left arms – to keep the words close to their hearts. Upon arriving at the swimming pool, McBrearty soon noticed that McNeil and Vista Ridge swimmers had joined in the memorial. 

“I was overwhelmed by the support as was my entire family,” McBrearty said. “Our incredible team really lifted my spirits.”

The team of Farris, Nathan Early ‘20, Andrew Seale ‘20, Joshua Louie ‘20, Benjamin Truong ‘21, Wang, Greene, Bradford, Runeman, KyAnh, Emma Bierley ‘22, Castel, and Shireen Gore ‘23 will be competing at the State Championships held at the University of Texas Swimming Center from Friday, Feb. 14 to Saturday, Feb. 15.