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Swim Team is off To State

The Westminster Boys Swim and Dive Team waited anxiously on Sunday afternoon as they hoped to find out that a select few of their swimmers would be headed to state. An e-mail from Coach Kehr confirmed the news. The Westminster team will send three relays, one individual, and one diver to state to conclude one of Westminster’s most successful Boys Swim teams ever.

The way the system works is that there is a set time for each event, and however many people swim under that time make the state meet. However, if fewer than 32 swimmers qualify under the time, the next best times will qualify for the meet until there are 32 swimmers or teams.

All three relay events at state, including the 200 Medley Relay, the 200 Freestyle Relay, and the 400 Freestyle Relay will feature a Westminster team. The 200 Freestyle Relay, featuring Jak Patterson, Reed Grimm, Reid St. John, and Jesse Parham, finished in 32nd place of 32 state qualifiers with a time of 1:40.25. The 200 Medley Relay, also featuring St. John and Parham, as well as Caleb Terschak and Sam Parker Stillman, finished 30th of 32 with a time of 1:53.25.
The third relay, the 400 Freestyle Relay, swam by Parham, Connor Evans, Caleb Terschak, and Reed Grimm finished 31st with a time of 3:44.72.

Caleb Terschak, who will swim in two of the three state relays, also received consideration in two individual events. He will swim at state in the 100 Back, his best event, and the 500 Free. In the 100, he swam a time of 1:00.02 at the Invitational Meet, a time good enough for the 27th in the state. For the 500, his time was good enough for 26th in the state, and since he is only a Junior, his best is yet to come.

Chris Kirby will dive at the State Meet for the first time in his Westminster career, and he will be the first Westminster diver to ever make it to state. He will graduate from Westminster as the record holder in the 6-Dive and 11-Dive events.

“A few of those events we went from ‘there’s no way’ to ‘on our way,’” said Coach Kehr, who has been the team’s coach for more than 30 years.

Finishing with a record of 12-6 and going to state in six events, this is the team’s best year in recent history.

The team is more than happy with how this year went. “This is the best team we’ve had in years,” said Senior Jak Patterson, who started swimming at Westminster as a Sophomore.

The season was an important one for the program. Last fall, there were very few swimmers on the team, but this year there were more than three times as many swimmers as there were last year. With over 40 kids on the team, every lane is full, and the increased number has created a competitive nature in the pool.

The Cats will swim at state on November 2nd and 3rd.