Making A Splash For State
Swim And Dive Brings Contenders To State
November 10, 2021
Following winning performances at districts, 12 swimmers and divers will head to St. Louis Nov. 11 and compete in St. Charles, Mo., Nov 12-13 for the state championships.
Sophomore diver Gavin Ballinger said he believed the team was looking good leading into the weekend.
“Swimmers look great,” Ballinger said. “We got a lot of backups going. Our main swimmers look great. Divers, we’re all ready and excited to go and about to have a great time.”
In his first year on the team, freshman Ben Gum won districts and was leading the charge for the dive team going into state.
“Winning districts was probably my favorite moment,” Gum said. “Something I was really trying to do well in, and that was just something I was surprised to get.”
Gum was shooting to finish in the upper half of divers and is using his first state competition to see his competitors for the next three years
“I want to get top half in state, even though there’s going to be a bunch of good divers,” Gum said. “I want to see all the people I’m going to be going up against in my later years of diving and just want to do the best I can.”
Even with the loss of seniors from last year, the swim team was still able to perform well this season, according to junior Jase Callaway.
“Swim team all throughout the season was pretty good,” Callaway said. “We lost a few seniors last year, but we did pretty good.”
Callaway believed the team has a lot of potential going into this weekend.
“We got some pretty good chances to break some school records and have some great individuals,” Callaway said.
Got the chance to catch up with Freshman Ben Gum about his thoughts on the last meet and the pressure of being a younger diver at state. @SHSFalcons @CoachSNOW1 @NKCSchools pic.twitter.com/W9wLMmu03p
— N2Sports Staley (@N2SportsStaley) November 10, 2021
