The Talawanda Swimming and Diving team completed another Southwest Ohio Conference (SWOC) championship season that saw both the boys and girls team win their league.
This season was the 12th time in 13 years that the Talawanda Brave have won the SWOC championship.
Head Coach Steve Pasquale said he was very pleased with his team’s performance this year.
“I’m very happy and satisfied,” Pasquale said. “It can be really tough throughout the season, but it’s great to see the team get rewarded.”
This year was especially challenging for the Brave. On the boys side, the Brave rostered 12 swimmers and only seven of which had prior swimming experience. On the girls team, seven of the 16 swimmers were underclassmen.
That didn’t stop Talawanda from winning another SWOC championship.
Senior captain Caroline Mignery said she was extremely pleased with herself and the team’s performance this year.
“It means a lot. Seeing your time drop and the hard work pay off is rewarding,” Mignery said.
After a successful meet at districts, Talawanda will send four girls swimmers to the state finals, which Pasqaule said he couldn’t be more happy about.
“I’m really happy that our kids made state again. There’s no better reward than seeing the fruits of your labor pay off,” Pasquale said.
A pair of juniors and freshmen are representing the Brave this weekend at the state finals in Canton. This will also be the first time in school history that Talawanda will send two girls relays to state in the 200 Freestyle Relay and the 400 Freestyle Relay.
Juniors Abbie Curry and Anna Gregg and freshmen Casey Offenburger and Madison Sparks all hope to make the most of their time at state finals.
Additionally, Curry and Gregg will compete individually in the 50 and 100 Freestyle along with the relays.
With state finals this weekend, junior captain Ryan Warholak is proud of his group.
“The season went well,” Warholak said. “I dropped times in all my events. Most other sports have time off, we don’t. We focus around school and swimming, and it’s mentally draining. You reap the rewards once you finish the season.”
As a junior, Warholak has seen the Talawanda boys swimming team succeed every year and they aim to continue this.
At the beginning of each season, Pasquale makes each swimmer fill out a goal sheet to get better by the end.
For Warholak, he saw his 100 backstroke time improve to 58.7 seconds and his 50 freestyle time at 23.33 seconds.
“The goal sheet definitely gives you perspective on how you did,” Warholak said. “This year, some kids never swam before and they wanted to do the 500. When you get that weight off your shoulders, it makes the entire season great.”
Mignery was also happy with her performance this year. As a senior, she made districts and swam on the 200 Medley Relay team, something she was really proud of.
“It’s a big deal. Dropping time and all the hard work being paid off is unreal,” Mignery said.
With the high school swimming season complete for both Mignery and Warholak, they enjoyed getting close with their teammates and building lifelong bonds that they can carry on after high school.
Their favorite moment of the season was swimming at the Butler Invitational Dec. 21 at the Wright State University pool.
“At Wright State, everyone’s crammed together and I really loved that,” Mignery said. “I got a lot closer to everyone else and it was good to get to know everyone.”
Coach Pasquale shared the same emotion.
“I love coaching to see the smile on their face when they drop time,” Pasquale said. “There is no better reward than seeing all of the fruits of your labor pay off,” he said.
State finals begin at the C.T. Branin Natatorium at 9 a.m. Feb. 21 for the state swim prelims and concludes at 3 p.m. Feb. 22 with the state swim finals.
