The Texans made a splash at the 4A state swim meet in San Antonio with nine swimmers competing in six events. Notably, the boys 200-yard medley relay qualified for the A Championship Finals when freshmen Jackson Shinn (backstroke), Jeremiah Bales (butterfly) and Iggy Anderson (freestyle) teamed up with sophomore Michael Donovan (breaststroke) to stake their claim among the best in the state. They clocked a season best time in preliminary competition, and beat it in the championship finals, to place #8 overall with a time of 1:49.17.
The accomplishment is exceptional because there were only two boys on the entire team last year and neither returned. Before the start of the season, it was doubtful if Wimberley would have enough boys on the team to comprise a relay, let alone qualify for state. With hard work and steady improvement all season, they skyrocketed to the top.
The Texan girls, veteran state qualifiers from last year, returned to state competition in the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. Juniors Brooklyn Bursiel (backstroke) and Charlotte Woodward (freestyle), senior Cassidy Davis (breaststroke) and sophomore Gracie Colyer (butterfly) finished with a 2:06.79 in the medley relay to place #14. Junior Zorah Schwalb-Stang joined Davis, Colyer and Woodward to finish in 4:02.05 for a ninthplace finish in the 400yard freestyle relay.
Wimberley also had three individual qualifiers. Colyer placed #10 in the 100-yard butterfly with a personal record time of 1:03.99; Davis placed #14 in the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:28.98; and Bales swam 23.58 to place #13 in the 50yard freestyle. Bales said, “Everything was bigger, louder, more hyped up and more energetic than any other meet I’ve ever been in.”
Coach Jill Johnson said, “They did an amazing job! I’m so proud of them!” Woodward expressed her gratitude for the team “because of the bond we have formed together.” Donovan credits the team’s success to their “amazing chemistry.”
Bursiel added, “If I didn’t have Coach Johnson and Coach Salinas there to push me to be the best swimmer I could possibly be, I don’t think I would have gone to state.” Shinn said, “At the beginning of the season, my expectations were low. Now that I know state is possible, I want to make it in an individual event, as well.”
