On Saturday afternoon at Yale University, the Staples boys’ swim team closed out their season by competing in State Opens against 53 other teams. Staples scored an impressive 181 points and received eighth place.
The boys’ swim team boasts an accomplished regular season record of 10-1, their best record since 1983. Staples was then runner up at FCIAC’s where coach Frisk Driscoll won coach of the year and proceeded to place fourth at LL championships.
“A challenge for the team was the missed practices due to snow days. The winter weather didn’t play in our favor this season,” Harrison Knapp ’16 said. Yet, despite this challenge, the swim team pushed through and continued to improve.
Staples received tenth place last year at Opens. “I think the biggest difference was our relays. All three of them placed higher this year than last year. Since relays are worth double the points this made a huge impact for us,” Driscoll said.
One of these relays was the 400 yard freestyle relay consisting of Max Wimer ’15, Knapp, Daniel Williams ’15, and Jonathan Blansfield ’14 which improved two full seconds from last year, going 3:16.82 and placing tenth. “It was exciting seeing our relays do so well,” Blansfield said, who will be swimming at Northwestern University next year.
The boys’ swim team showed their stamina carrying their successful dual meet season through the last meet. “The meet went very well for us. We had strong swims across the board and it was a great way to end the season,” Blansfield said.
