The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

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ADHS Swimming

By: Cameron Thomas

The high school swim season is about to begin and there is a lot to be excited about. For Athens Drive, this season should be particularly interesting for a number of reasons, such as the loss of Tyler Silver, a State Champion for the Jags, who graduated last year and received a full ride to the University of Florida, and Zach Brown, a state champion for Athens Drive.

“It will certainly be a blow, as Tyler was a back-to-back State Champion, but we have some fantastic young swimmers coming in to fill his spot,” said Athens Swimming and Diving Coach Shane Barry. “Most significantly Zach Brown, who won the 100 Butterfly at the NCHSAA State Meet last year, has greatly improved and should put up some incredibly fast times this year.” Brown was part of the 2016 Olympic Trials over the summer.

Barry thinks there is a good chance that the men’s team can finish top 10 in the state and that the women’s team can improve on their showing from last year.

“That being said, one injury can have a very large effect on the entire team’s season, so it’s very hard to tell what will happen,” said Barry.  The girl’s team had an injury last year that affected their season last year and are hoping for better this season.

The 2015-16 ADHS Swim Team was very strong, placing fourth at the 2016 NCHSAA State Championship meet. They were edged out by Green Hope, who scored only two more points than Athens to place third at the meet.

“Winning a state title in swimming is a very difficult thing to do given the immense amount of talent in our sport locally,” said Barry.

There is a lot of talent in the year round swimming community that will be moving into local high school swimming this year. Green Hope already has some of the best swimmers in the triangle area, such as John Healy, Olympic Trials Qualifier, Michael Ivy, state record holder in the 13-14 50y and 100y Freestyle, and Kate `Moore, Olympic Trials Qualifier.

Athens is not expected to have a good shot at winning State Championships this year, but anything is possible. “That would be an unrealistic expectation of a team that just lost a D1 athlete and is typically an underdog in one of the strongest conferences in the state.” Said Barry. “To the best of my knowledge, the boy’s 4th place finish last year is the best the team’s ever done.” Barry says that the team’s strengths are the togetherness and will to sacrifice and do what’s best for the team as a whole. Athens’ biggest weakness is its youth. There are also some freshmen coming in that show promise. More than 10 seniors graduated from the ADHS Swim Team last year and the team is a lot younger than it used to be. Barry says he has confidence that the few seniors Athens does have will step up to be team leaders.

“Our team is a family. Everyone who joins has a place, whether that place is swimming the anchor on the A relay or struggling to swim a 100 Butterfly for the first time. Anyone willing to work hard at a very difficult sport can find a home with us.” Says Barry.  “It’s productive but fun,” says senior swimmer Robert Bennett.

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