After finishing the winter season on Jan. 16, the Gloucester High School swim team shifted its focus to regional competition.

The season ended with a record of 6-3 for both the girls’ and boys’ teams. This record was a slight improvement for the girls (up from 5-4 last year) and the same record as last year for the boys. It is also the goal that was set at the beginning of the season.

“There were a lot of new faces this season and throughout practice, we were able to drop a lot of time,” said Allen Koederitz, the Dukes’ swim coach. 

 Swimming, as an individual sport, focuses more on the individual athletes, as opposed to most other sports where the team must harmonize to succeed. Because of this, the team put more emphasis on individual growth for everyone as opposed to ending the season with the highest score.

Koederitz helped 14 athletes drop enough time to qualify for this year’s regional competition. Gloucester will send Ethan Barefoot-Garcia, Gavin Cohn, Livvie Cohn, Macey Cohn, Hunter Emanus, Even Fannin, Colin Goetz, Colin Hansford, Jack Jenkins, Daryn Olson, Emma Olson, Kathryn Parennel, Savannah Rose and Logan Storie to represent the team in regionals. Livvie Cohn has already qualified to move up to states with a competitive time of 1:57.52 to compete in the Girls’ 200 freestyle. 

These students will compete next Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Midtown Aquatics Center in Newport News.

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