The boys swim team placed third out of five teams competing at the Swim for HOPE Invite on Saturday, Jan. 20.
First and second place were taken by O’Fallon and Springfield with scores of 431 and 362 respectively. The Tigers followed with a total score of 333.
While this placement may not seem like a win for Edwardsville, the focus of the meet was not to take home any medals, but to gain experience in areas the swimmers rarely get to explore.
Coach Christian Rhoten intentionally put the swimmers in only the 50-yard and 100-yard races, which the swimmers rarely get to do.
“I would definitely say that it took pressure off of me to perform,” senior Cohen Osborn said. “We did events that didn’t hold any real weight, so it was just for fun.”
Even with this lack of expertise, the Tigers took the top three places in the 50-yard freestyle shoot-out. Osborn won with a time of 22.24, senior Eddie Meyers placed second at 22.43 and junior Austin Norcio placed third with 22.70.
These wins were particularly impressive because of the small number of swimmers on the team compared to years past.
“This year, because of the smaller number of swimmers, it has been a little harder to fill events,” Osborn said. “We’ve lost a lot of the depth we had in previous years, but it hasn’t stopped us.”
This meet was particularly special for Edwardsville, as it took place at their home pool and worked as a fundraiser for Allison’s HOPE, named after the founder, Allison Cassens.
Cassens was an Edwardsville native who swam at the Olympic level and lost her life to cancer at a young age. Now, this meet has been held in her honor every year since 2004, and it works to raise money for cancer research in the effort to find a cure.
As the team progresses on to sectionals, there is hope to perform well and have fun doing so.
“I think that sectionals will be extremely fun this year,” Osborn said. “With it being my senior year, I’m excited to see how the team and myself perform.”
