A season of hard training and rigorous exercise has finally paid off for three members of the BSM boys’ swim team. On Thursday, February 22 and Saturday, February 24, Senior Captain Michael Hunter, Junior Matt Mcgonigle, Freshman Liam Noble, and Senior Captain Graham Noble succeeded in the Section 2A meet at Richfield High School and will be racing at the state tournament.

The four state-bound swimmers advanced to state as a group in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. Matt Mcgonigle and Graham Noble will also be competing at state in their individual events. Noble qualified for state in the 100-yard backstroke, and Mcgonigle qualified in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, in which he broke his own school record. “Our team mostly swam best times all around. The hard work paid off. I swam very well, and recorded personal best times in both of my events,” Mcgonigle said.

The preliminary rounds of the Section 2A meet took place on the 22nd, two days before finals. Swimmers who finished in the top 16 during prelims advanced to finals, with the first 8 swimmers competing in the A final and the second 8 in the B final. The top 3 swimmers after the final round in each event make it to the State Tournament, which will take place March 2-3 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. “For the four of us who qualified the next stop is the State Meet,” Mcgonigle said.

The coaches of the swim are head coach Damon Carrison and assistant coach John Weidenbacher. Both coaches swam in high school and use their experience in the pool to improve the BSM boys’ swim team. “They have been working us hard all season and have helped us a lot,” Graham Noble said.

Each state-bound member of the swim team will be able to bring two classmates out of school to watch them compete at State prelims round on Friday, March 2nd. All students can attend the final round of the State meet on Saturday, March 3rd and are encouraged to pack the pool.