The Chapel Hill men’s swim team won its second consecutive 3-A state title on February 10 at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, with two Tiger athletes winning two individual titles each.
Senior Peter Bretzmann set a state record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:48.88 and defended his title in the 500-yard freestyle with a time 4:30.83. For his accomplishments, Bretzmann—who has committed to swim for the University of Florida—was honored as the meet’s Most Outstanding Swimmer.
Senior Sam Hoover placed first in both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle races with times of 44.20 and 1:37.50 respectively. Hoover, who has committed to swim at North Carolina State University, defended his 2020 state titles in both races.
“It’s always an honor to win events, and I’m glad I could get points for the team,” he said. “States is always the main goal, and we were able to achieve our goals, which is what really matters.”
Senior Michael Volpe placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke (55.73) for the second year in a row and took sixth in the 100-yard butterfly.
“It was a big team thing—we were just in it for each other, so that we could lift the team trophy. It wasn’t really about individual success,” Volpe said.
Junior Ayden Xu swam to seventh place in the 200-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle. Junior Edward Wang placed seventh in the 50-yard freestyle, and freshman Jake Purves placed eighth in diving.
The Tigers, who edged out Marvin Ridge High School, also set two state records in the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays. The 200-yard relay team featured Wang, Volpe, Xu and Hoover and clocked a time of 1:24.99, while the 400-yard team featured senior Austin Chang, Xu, Hoover and Bretzmann and finished with a time of 3:06.10.
Freshmen Jonathan Liang was also honored with the meet’s Sportsmanship Award.
“I feel honored to have been granted the Sportsmanship Award, as it is always one of my goals to have a positive impact on my team and those around me,” Liang said. “I thought that the team atmosphere is very positive and the Sportsmanship Award could have honestly gone to anyone on the team.”
Coach Greg Zoltners expressed gratitude to the organizations that facilitated his athletes’ practices and competitions in the midst of the pandemic.
“Underlying our successful season was a huge amount of careful and conscientious work by the NCHSAA, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools, and Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation to figure out the protocols that would allow us to train and compete safely,” Zoltners said. “We had limited swimmers per lane and limited access to pools for meets, but I am thankful that we were able to compete at all.”
Zoltners noted that the men’s swimming team has now distinguished itself at the state meet for four consecutive years.
“The boys have now won two state championships in a row,” he said. “The two years before that they were second at state. In recent years, the girls have won both the conference meet and regionals.”
The women’s team finished in 14th place at the state meet. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Savannah Xu, Jessica Chen, Ann-Marie Knight and Makenna Corcoran took seventh place, while Xu finished in fifth and seventh place in individual events.
