The swim season is wrapping up, and with it the tradition of swimmer of the meet, for this swim year. The swim team had swimmers advance past district and regionals and sent seven members of the team on to state Feb 23-24. The last two swimmers of the meet for this swim season were Owen Allen and Maddie Gayden from the January 6, 2024 home meet against Texas High.

“I needed something to do, and I liked swimming when I was younger so I thought joining an elementary school swim team would be a good idea,” Allen said. “From there I moved to the high school team and I just haven’t stopped swimming since.”

Allen has been swimming since 4th grade and loves it because he loves the water and getting to compete with friends. His favorite swim memory is going to the district meet last year and getting to watch all his teammates do well. He was excited when he got swimmer of the meet because it gave him recognition for all the hard work he had put into swimming. His favorite part of being on the swim team is having people to work hard with, and having a team to rely on, that can help him become a better person.

“Swimming is something I’ve always done since I was little so I just decided to join a club team,” Gayden said. “It’s something I’ve done ever since.”

Gayden loves the team aspect of swimming. Her favorite memories from swim are the social events, but she also loved the senior roast last year.  She was happy when she got swimmer of the meet because it showed how hard she worked at swimming. Her favorite part of being on the swim team is getting to make memories with the team, like on bus rides or at meets.

“I love the team aspect of swimming,” Gayden said. “It’s like we’re one big family.”