Sports

Girls’ Swim and Dive Team 3-Peats in State Championships

Senior varsity swimmer Micaela Brown competes against Cherokee Trail during the 200 yard IM event, placing sixth in her heat. The girls’ Swim and Dive team competed with Cherokee Trail on Jan. 26, just two weeks before winning the State Championship on Feb. 10.

Emily Gleason and Natalia Perusquia
February 19, 2023

Creek’s Girls’ Swim team won state for the third year in a row at the Class 5A Swim and Dive State Championships, bringing Creek to a record 29 state titles, at Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center on Feb. 10.

The team faced intense competition from other schools, as well as the pressure of upholding their streak of state championships.

“It’s pretty intense. It’s a big pool. It’s a big facility,” senior Teagan Steinmetz said. “I’ve been swimming all of my life but there’s no other meet that’s as loud as it is and the stands are packed. The energy is just kind of insane.”

Head Coach Karin Olmsted acknowledged that with the amount of titles that Creek has won there comes pressure.

“There was the expectation to win and you could see it in the results of how we came into the meet,” Olmsted said. “We were seeded well but I always like to play that down as much as possible. You know, the meet [is] never handed to us. I always remind [the team], ‘You can’t just show up.’ I think that’s an important aspect for everybody to learn – you can’t just show up and win, you got to show up and do the work.”

Having won state for the past two years, Creek went into this year’s meet seeded to win with the goals of winning all three relay races, 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, and 200 medley, and breaking state records, which they accomplished.

Creek’s 200 freestyle relay team broke the previous Colorado state record with a time of 1:30.81, according to Max Preps. The previous record was set by Creek last year.

The 400 freestyle relay team broke the team’s previous record by three hundredths of a second and won the relay with a time of 3:23.66. The team missed the national record by 11 hundredths of a second, according to CHSAANOW and Max Preps.

Creek’s 200 medley relay team won with a time of 1:41.77, according to CHSAANOW and Max Preps.

According to CHSAANOW and Max Preps, in individual events, senior Lawson Ficken won the 50 freestyle in 22.64 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 48.77 seconds. Senior Alexis Greenhawt won second place after Ficken in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.84 seconds, and junior Charlotte Wilson won the 100 backstroke in 52.95 seconds.

Knowing that Creek was expected to win in addition to wanting to do one’s best, increased the pressure on the swimmers.

“It’s really hard to swim that fast and earn points and get the right placement and make sure everything’s all in line,” senior Haley Ross said. “But, I think what’s fun about Creek swim and dive is because it’s more team focused than individual focused you have people to support you.”

Team bonding activities spearheaded by team captains prior to and during the season included activities such as a team dance lesson helped bring the team together and take their win.

As a Creek alum herself, Olmsted recognizes that it can be difficult for student athletes to know that there are people to support them in a school with such a large student population.

“Knowing that there’s somebody always looking out for you is important for me and also to have fun,” Olmsted said. “We have Taylor Swift Tuesdays, and there’s different ways of making it fun. [It] doesn’t always have to be serious all the time.”

The team captains agree that despite the challenges that come up and the effort needed to put into swimming, there is a place for everybody on Creek’s swim team.

“There is pressure a little bit, with being the team with the most state titles in Colorado, but I wouldn’t have [it] any other way,” Steinmetz said. “We always say pressure is a privilege. It’s a privilege to be able to be this good.”