The Bishop Lynch swim program made its presence felt Friday at the TAPPS state Championships in Mansfield, finishing third in the girls division while the boys finished seventh.
The girls ended up winning an impressive six of the eleven events, including two relays. The 200 medley relay of Ailish Tierney, Hadley Beeson, Stella Todd, and Lindsay Hudspeth ended up winning by more than four seconds. That would be the first of many victories to come.
In the girls 200 freestyle, Beeson won her second gold in as many events as she beat the rest of the field by three seconds with a time of 1:52.03. If that weren't enough, Beeson went out and cruised her way to a third gold in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:02.09, with the next fastest competitor coming in nine seconds behind.
Todd also took gold in both of her individual events with ease. She started off in record fashion. Her time in the 200 individual medley of 2:07.78 broke the school record that has stood by Erin Briskie since 2002. Todd was also able to easily take victory in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.89 with the next fastest competitor coming in over two seconds behind.
Tierney capped off her swimming career with impressive finishes in both the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Her time of 54.62 in the 100 freestyle was good enough for a bronze medal placing. She backed that up by earning another bronze in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.41.
Captains Elli Jordan and Hudspeth guided the team with some great performances on their own. Jordan was able to drop two seconds off her personal best in the 500 freestyle. In doing so, she was able to move up two spots and finish 14th overall. Hudspeth was able to drop 2.6 seconds from her regionals time to take fourth overall in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:19.58. She backed that up by taking fifth overall in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:04.14.
The 400 freestyle relay finished the meet in the same way they started – by taking gold. The combination of Beeson (52.3), Tierney (54.73), Hudspeth (56.69), and Todd (51.9) crushed the field by nine seconds. Their time of 3:35.77 sets a new school record previously set in 2017.
The girls team finished the meet with a total of 228 points behind Ursuline (230) and champion St. Agnes (420). Beeson was named 1st runner-up for Swimmer of the Meet. Todd was 2nd runner-up for Swimmer of the Meet.
The boys team put together an amazing performance, which allowed them to have their highest finish at the TAPPS State meet since 2010. Six different swimmers scored to finish seventh overall with 138 points. They were a mere seven points away from finishing in sixth place.
The boys started the meet with an impressive swim in the 200 medley relay, comprised of freshman Callen Singhania, sophomore Luke Weber, as well as senior captains Joe Weber and Shaughnessey Smith. Their time of 1:44.83 was two seconds faster than their time at regionals and good enough for seventh place.
Luke Weber continued to improve in everything he swam, dropping his personal best in the 200 freestyle to a 1:54.45, which was good enough for ninth place. He was also able to finish seventh overall in the 100 breaststroke with a new lifetime best time of 1:04.67.
The freshmen class had a strong representation by Singhania and Austin January. Singhania was the first individual event for the boys and started off well with a lifetime best in the 200 individual medley with a 2:12.49. He then came back and finished strong in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.02, which was good enough for 12th. January represented well in the 100 freestyle, dropping time and achieving a new lifetime best with a 52.82. That time was good enough for 13th.
The senior captains did their part in helping get the team to their highest finish in nine years. Joe Weber fought hard to earn himself a 14th place finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.10. He also finished seventh overall in his 100 freestyle with a time of 51.17. Fellow senior Shaughnessey Smith was able to move up an impressive five spots in the 50 freestyle, lowering his personal best to a 24.10.
The top swim of the night came in the men's 200 freestyle relay. The team of Luke Weber (22.92), Joe Weber (22.80), Austin January (23.39) and Shaughnessey Smith (22.79) was able to finish in third place overall with a time of 1:31.90, earning them their first relay medal since 2010.
The state meet was capped off by a great finish in the boys 400 freestyle relay. The relay comprised of Shaughnessey Smith (53.33), Callen Singhania (51.74), Joshua Ponewash (53.43) and Austin January (52.92) took off more than five seconds from their season-best to finish seventh with a time of 3:31.42.
