RBHS Boys’ Swim won the CMAC Championship Thurs., Oct. 19 at Hickman High School (HHS). The team will compete at two more meets before individual qualifiers advance to the state meet.
The meet consisted of 11 races: 200 yard medley relay, 200 yard freestyle, 200 yard IM, 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard butterfly, 200 yard freestyle, 500 yard freestyle, 200 yard freestyle relay, 100 yard backstroke, 100 yard breaststroke and 400 yard freestyle relay. Out of the 11 events, the RBHS swim team achieved 17 personal record (PR) times, and won two out of the three relays.
RBHS Boys’ Swim Head Coach Taylor Birsa, who is in her ninth year of coaching Columbia Public Schools swim, said she is proud of the progress the team is making. She said this week has been tiring for the team, as the Springfield Invite meet (Sat., Oct. 21) and the senior night meet (Thurs., Oct. 26) will round out a total of four meets for the team within just over one week. Despite this, the team is continuing to push through and have fun.
“[The swimmers] have been getting killed at practices this week and they’re really tired,” Birsa said. “But it’s never a bad thing to race while tired, because it’s going to put you in a challenging spot. […] It’s a good [training] strategy.”
Senior Phillip Fritschi gained a PR on his 200 yard freestyle, dropping his time from 2:26.39 to 2:23.21. Fritschi said he is also proud of the team’s ability to work together, and every swimmer who accomplished a PR at the CMAC meet. We have some goals in mind, and I think we have a really good chance of accomplishing those goals. Especially from what we saw last year at the state meet, and we have a lot of returning players. So I think that we have a good shot.” — Taylor Birsa, Head Coach
“We’ve had a lot of encouragement [this season] between different swimmers,” Fritschi said. “We’ve had lots of freshmen that have been welcomed onto the team here, including one who started halfway through the season and got a medal today.”
Additionally, sophomore Ryan Coughenour beat both his previous 50 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle times — 23.54 to 22.68 and 5:14.50 to 4:59.51, respectively. The team has had ten meets so far this season, and while Coughenour said they have been able to enjoy their early season and smaller team duels, it is time to focus on the state meet coming up.
“We have a week left, […] then we get into state,” Coughenour said. “We’re all getting a little more focused [with] less goofing around.”
Birsa said the team dynamic is great this year, and it is fun to watch the boys switch between messing around with each other and working hard. Now, though, she thinks it is time to lock-in and focus on state.
“We have some goals in mind, and I think we have a really good chance of accomplishing those goals,” Birsa said. “Especially from what we saw last year at the state meet, and we have a lot of returning players. So I think that we have a good shot.”
Have you been to any RBHS swim meets this year? Let us know in the comments below.
