This weekend, the Coronado boys swim team took their talents to the Air Force Academy pool to compete at the State Championships. After their impressive second place finish at the Metro League Championships, the boys had reason to go into the state competition with confidence. Sean Kight, 9, who swam both the 100 fly and the 500 free said of his experience “there was a ton of spirit [at state] everyone was hyped, everyone was getting everyone else ready,” adding, “when I swam, everyone there was a good sport; the other teams shook hands after the races and it was really fun.”

The boys had particularly impressive performances in the relays, finishing 11th in the 200 medley relay made up of Hunter Tenpas, 10, Jackson Sawyer, 11, Alex Spieker, 12, and Andrew Aire, 11. Their team’s highest finish of the meet was an 8th place finish in the 200 freestyle relay thanks to strong swims from Sebastian Randono, 12, Jackson Sawyer, 11, Adam Austin, 10, and Andrew Aire, 11. “I thought it was fantastic” said Sawyer of his experience swimming in the medley relay.

There were also notable individual performances from Alex Spiker, who was a member of the medley relay that placed 11th. He came back to swim the 200 freestyle, and tied for 18th, only missing finals by two positions. He also swam the 500 freestyle. Adam Austin, a member of the 8th place freestyle relay had impressive individual swims, finishing 18th in the 50 free and 19th in the 100 free. Hunter Tenpas, 11, took 15th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.48, and is the reigning city champion in that event.

Overall, the Cougars had a great season, and because there aren’t many graduating seniors, the team has the potential to do better at state next year. They have a lot of talented young swimmers who have already gone to state, like Sean Kight, who hopes to “make it to state in the 200 IM and just keep going to state every year.” Jackson Sawyer, 12, said of the teams prospects next year “we are going to kill it and I can guarantee that.” The future is full of promise for the Cougars, and it will be exciting to see how they perform at state next year.