Chapel Hill’s swimming and diving teams finished their season with strong performances from the men’s and women’s teams, with the men’s team winning the state championship.
The men’s swim team became the state champion on February 8 after winning the championship meet at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.
Junior Sam Hoover set a state record at the meet for his time in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 43.10 and was named Most Outstanding Swimmer after winning all four of his races.
“[Hoover] is a tremendously hard-working and talented athlete. I expect that he will win Outstanding Swimmer next year, too,” Greg Zoltners, the swimming coach, said.
Hoover broke the record just a day after the previous record time of 44.18 had been set by Tim Connery of Christ the King Catholic High School.
Hoover also swam a 3A state record-setting time of 1:35.57 in the 200-meter freestyle, just two-tenths of a second shy of the overall state record set by Jack Walker in 2019.
Hoover’s performance came a year after setting the state record in the 100-meter freestyle during the 2019 state championship meet.
Sophomore Ayden Xu, juniors Michael Volpe and Hoover and senior Sebastian Gerz-Escandon swam a 3A record 200-meter freestyle relay time of 1:25.23.
Later in the meet, Hoover, with junior Peter Bretzmann and senior Austin Chang, broke the 400-meter freestyle relay record, coming in at a time of 3:07.79.
“Everyone who was at the state meet swam better than expected. Of course, we had Hoover, who was a tremendous benefit on the relays, but, without everyone stepping up, it wouldn’t have happened,” Zoltners said.
The win comes after the men’s team placed second in the 2019 state championship meet, and marks the team’s first state title since 2016 and its seventh overall.
The women’s varsity swim team did not qualify for states, but came in second place at the Eastern Regional meet on January 31.
In that meet, seniors Poppy Ames and Ambika Gaur, along with juniors Emma Kent and Savannah Xu, won the 200-meter freestyle relay, coming in at a time of 1:41.28.
In women’s diving, senior Clara Tate won the state championship title on February 7. She completed 11 dives and came in first place with a score of 440.10.
