The Girls Swim Team has finished their dual meets and are currently third in Division two dual and second in the championship after competing in MAC Red on Nov. 3 and 4.
There were many good races at prelims, on the first day of the meet,the top 16 in each event qualified to make it back for finals. During the A final, the top eight finishers inSouth’s 200-medley relay finished first with Mischa Eng ’26, Keira Collins ’24, Hannah DiDio ’25 and Whitney Handwork ’26. Heidi Bryan ’26 took the first place finish in the individual 200 freestyle and is ranked ninth in Division two, going into the state meet.
“I think the MAC meet went really well for a lot of people. I’m hoping the state meet goes well for everyone and that we can swim our best times,” Bryan said.
Engel placed first, where she dropped time in the individual 200 medley, placing her fifth in Division two, going into the state meet. The fastest event of the meet was the Individual 50m Freestyle with four South swimmers in the A final (the top eight finishers). Handwork, Lorelei Carr ’26, DiDio, and Charlotte Bedsworth ’24, will all be swimming the 50m Freestyle at the state meet. Four South swimmers were in the A final of the 100 butterfly where DiDio took first, Bedsworth second, Betty Engel ’24 third and Vivian Rizer ’24 took fourth. All four are swimming the 100m Butterfly at the state meet.
“MAC was awesome, the team had such great energy and I hope we can carry that energy into states. We’ve got a great group of girls who are all very supportive and very fast. It’s looking like we’ll place in the top 5 teams at states,” Rizer said. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re excited to see what we can do.”
Three South swimmers in the A final were in the top eight finishers of the 100m Freestyle. Handwork second, Carr fifth and Dailey Jogan ’24 eighth, earning Carr a place to swim in the 100m Freestyle at the state meet. The 500m Freestyle had four south swimmers in the A final, Bryan first and Maryn Smith ’25 second. Bryan and Smith will be swimming the 500m Freestyle at the state meet. South’s 200m Freestyle Relay finished second with Carr, Bryan, Collins and Bedsworth.
Eng finished first in the 100m Backstroke and Betsy Ropke ’26 received her first state cut in finals and will be swimming the 100m Backstroke at the state meet with Eng. There were four South swimmers in the A final of the 100m Breaststroke, Collins took first, Lydia Prysak ’26 second, Naya Azoury ’25 third, and Izzy Starks ’26 fifth. Collins will go on to swim the 100m Breaststroke at the state meet. South’s 400m Freestyle Relay placed first with Eng, followed by Bryan, DiDio, and Handwork.
With a state team of 12 swimmers, the team is expecting to do very well this year. The state meet will take place in Holland, Michigan on Nov. 17 and 18. The swimmers are hoping to make the top 16 in their event to be able to swim in finals on the 18th and score points for the team.
“MAC went great, two new individuals achieved their state cuts and many more cuts from state team members, it was nice hosting, and we won again. I think we are an outside team looking at a top 4 finish and looking for relays to place high,” Head Swim Coach John Fodell said.
