Two-hundred-yard medley relay. One-hundred-yard backstroke. One-hundred-yard breaststroke. Four-hundred-yard freestyle relay. Breaking a school record is an exceptional feat for teams, nevertheless the four of them that the boys’ swim team did in their sectional meet. Even after an overall 15th in state finish, they’re far from done.

“Everybody makes all these predictions about what’s going to happen,” swimmer Chris Phillips ‘16 said. “I went into it thinking whatever happens, happens. But when we did break all those records, wow, it was nice.”

The first event, the 200 yard-medley was broken by Spencer Walker ‘18, Weston Credit ‘16, Henry Claesson ‘18 and Matt Linden ‘17 (1:33.78). From there on out, swimmer after swimmer tried to beat the others according to Coach Scott Walker. Spencer won the 100-yard backstroke (52.11), Credit won the 100-yard breaststroke (57.61) and Nick Bonneville ‘15, Ben Breitenbucher ‘16, Credit and Linden combined to take the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:07.61).

“They just kind of went crazy,” Coach Walker said. “I knew after the medley relay, that the other six were looking at them and each other and thinking, ‘Okay. We’re on.’ We were swimming so well that we didn’t want the meet to stop.”

The next weekend at state, amidst a very competitive group of schools, the medley relay placed 10th (1:35.21), along with Hewett in seventh in the 500-yard freestyle (4:37.19), Credit sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke (57.70) and Phillips in 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke (58.99)

The two divers who represented LT in the meet, Seamus Scotty ‘17 and Matt Benz ‘15, placed sixth in the finals with a score of 450.10 and 21st in preliminaries with a score of 181.20 respectively.

The two freshmen on the team, Spencer and Claesson, both foreshadow a bright future for LT as both of them being a part of the medley relay allows them to show their strength. While Spencer may be the son of the coach, it doesn’t change his experience with the team in the slightest.

“Ninety-five percent of the time, I don’t even know he’s there,” Coach Walker said. “He doesn’t go to morning practice with me; he doesn’t drive home with me. He showed that he deserves to be on the team as much as anyone else.”

Despite being separated by a couple of blocks, the upperclassmen of the sectional team have tried to take the underclassmen under their wing in bridging the gap between north and south.

“I felt nervous for those guys in their first big high school meet,” Credit said. “I knew in my head that they would hold up. Sure enough, they swam really well.”

The captains of this team can be just as prized to the team as the swimmers themselves. Lucas O’Bryan ‘15, Jack Linden ’15 and Hewett continued to not only push the team to new heights and meet their expectations for the playoffs but also prove how bright the future is. Each one plays a very different, yet vital, role in keeping their spirits up and their times low, according to Credit.

“Ben is always smiling and claims he’s high on life,” Phillips said. “Lucas is just a workhorse and he never stops going in training or in practice. Jack takes care of everybody and watches over all of us. The only way to put it is that he’s mom of the team. But not in a bad way.”

When it comes down to it, this team’s success as a whole can be attributed to its tight bonds and love of the sport. Whether it be the Harry Potter movie marathon, or the downtime in the four hours they spend together in the pool, this group is unlike any other, Phillips said.

“Once you dive in and break the surface, everything goes away,” Phillips said. “You know how to do it. It’s mindless, and once you’re in, you just let go.”