On Sept. 13 at Masuk High School, the Masuk girls swim and dive team defeated Bunnell High School in a meet with an overwhelming majority, with the first race of the day being won by nearly 17 seconds with the rest of the meet following suit. Onlookers were able to witness an impressive performance by Eva Helmke, Juliette Eaton, Lucia Morales, Abby Kirberger and the rest of the team.
As the second meet of the girl’s swim season, this meet boosted morale heavily for the swimmers. Masuk’s speed was unmatched by the Bunnell team and Masuk beat 41 previous personal records for swimming and higher scores for diving than ever before.
Masuk won ten out of 12 events at the meet losing only the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard breaststroke. Masuk won an additional 15 points from the diving portion due to Bunnell not having divers. Furthermore, a team composed of the four Masuk divers placed third in the diver’s relay.
Overall the meet was a victory for the Masuk girls swim team. Many of the swimmers’ times qualified for SWCs including Helmke, Eaton, Skye Eannotti, Yara Shaik, and Morales all qualified. Kate and Carrie Wittenaur, and Carly Jordan also all qualified for diving SWCs.
Going into the event, the team was less than hopeful. Masuk’s girls swim team only won one meet last season against Stratford High School. This year, some of the team’s spirits were low going into the season after their loss against Stratford High School last friday. Although it was definitely not everyone, a significant amount of the Masuk team were expecting a loss.
“I think we will do okay. I feel like we have a 50/50 chance at winning because we have a lot of new people on the team this year. A lot more skill,” said sophomore swimmer Niti Shah, prior to the Bunnell meet.
Despite the apparent lack of hope from some members of the Masuk Girl’s swim team, Coach DeMace had a lot to say about the team and their improvement:
“We’ve only had one meet so far. And one mock meet, which was practice. But from our mock meet- maybe a week later the girls had improved tremendously,”
Helmke, a senior and captain for the swim team along with Juliette, Carrie Wittenauer, and Kate Wittenauer, had a lot of things to say when asked about how she felt about the rest of the swim season this year after the meet.
“I’m hoping good, I definitely think that now people kinda get a feel for what the meets should be like. Especially because we had it at our own pool today, but yeah I’m excited I’m hoping it’ll be a good last year,” Helmke stated.
The team cannot wait to see how the rest of the season shall go after an exciting win like yesterday. The next meet for the girls’ swim team will be next Tuesday at and against Pomperaug Regional High School. Yesterday’s meet spells out a promising season for the girls swim team this year. Congratulations to the girls swim team for their win!
Masuk Free Press 