Coronado’s swim team has dived into this season guns-ablazing. Only two meets into the season, the Cougars and their teammates from CSCS and Manitou have posted exceptionally fast times for this early in the season.

At their first meet, the Lightning Invite, varsity swim placed fifth out of eleven competitive teams.

The Cougars had a slower start to the meet, beginning with a sixth place in the 200 medley relay, even with the blazing fast anchor leg of junior Andrew Aire that led the Cougars to a strong state-qualifying time In the next event, senior Alex Spiecker rounded up a few points with his state-qualifying 1:58.41 performance in the 200 free. The Cougars missed out on points in the 200 IM, where there were no stand out performances. The Cougars more than rebounded in the 50 free, where not, but two swimmers qualified for state. Aire swam a 22.48, good for third and a spot at state, and sophomore Adam Austin swam himself to a new personal best in the event and another state-qualifying time. The Coronado diving team also had a strong showing: Seniors Talon Turman and Matt Lenz placed fourth and fifth, respectively, and freshman Luke Steiner placed sixth in his first ever high school diving competition.

Jackson Sawyer, a state veteran, took sixth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.93. Beginning the trend, Alex Spiecker placed 7th in the 500 free and qualified for state in his second distance event. In the 200 free relay, The Cougars’ team, composed of Sawyer, Chris Reyes, 9, Jordan Killi, 10, and Aire, placed sixth. Adam Austin rounded up a few more points for the Cougars in the 100 back, taking seventh and producing his second state-qualifying mark of the day, then Sawyer came back to place fifth in 100 breaststroke and produce a state-worthy mark for the second time that day, the first being in the 100 butterfly. The Cougars topped off their great performances at the meet with a 7th place finish and yet another state-qualifying time in the 400 freestyle relay. Adam Austin applauded the team’s performance against “some really gifted swimmers and teams,” and their ability to hold [their] own against them.”

Only a few days later, Coronado Swim and Dive was back at it at Lewis Palmer for a dual. Although the Cougars has strong performances in many evens and scored many top three spots, they failed to get many first place finishes, and eventually those points compiled into a 79-107 loss.

In the first event of the day, the Cougars placed both first and third in the 200 medley relay. The winning team, composed of Hunter Tenpas on the backstroke leg, Jackson Sawyer on breaststroke, Alex Spieker on fly, and Andrew Aire on freestyle posted a speedy time of 1:45.46. In the 200 free, Sean Kight, 9, placed third, and was closely followed by his teammate, Andrew Dillinder, 11, who placed fifth. In the 200 IM, Andrew Aire qualified for state yet again with his second place and time of 2:07.17. The Coronado divers, Talon Turman and Luke Steiner, placed second and fourth, respectively.

Another successful Cougar duo was in Hunter Tenpas and Alex Spiecker in the 100 butterfly, in which they both cinched top three and state-qualifying finishes. In the 100 free, Aire (who qualified for state in the event), Adam Austin, and Jordan Killi all swam under 58 seconds in the event. Sean Kight continued his strong showing in the longer events with a second place in the 500. The Cougars had a strong showing in the 50 free, where three Cougars- Austin, Sebastian Randono, and Killi- all placed in the top five.

Next up was the 200 free relay, where the Cougars claimed a solid second place finish and state-qualifying time. Hunter Tenpas claimed his second runner-up individual finish in the 100 backstroke. His strong 59.72 performance led the way for fellow Cougars Randle Burtoft and Sebastian Randano to also place in the top five. As the meet neared its end, Jackson Sawyer claimed the Cougars’ second win of the day in the 100 breast. The Cougars rounded out the meet with a strong 2-3-4 finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

Come support Cougar Swim and Dive at their next home dual at the Coronado pool on April 24th at 4:30 P.M.!