The official blows the whistle to quiet down the pool. Behind the blocks, the best of the best prepare to swim. To the left and right, swimmers jump up and down and smack their arms and legs. They mentally prepare for their event. They’ve gone through intense training, multiple hardships, but nonetheless, they are going to attempt to pull more and kick harder than they have before. Intensity fills the air. Everything becomes still. 

You’re seeded first, in the fastest lane: lane four. You’ve been preparing for this since the beginning of the season, maybe even for years. Your heart is pounding out of your chest and you shake your legs to avoid anyone seeing you tremble. This is the time, now more than ever. This is the last meet of the season, and for some, the last in their careers. A long whistle blows and the swimmers step up on the block.

Take your mark …

Panther swimmers and divers, along with dozens of other high school athletes, experienced the above scenario during the 3A State Swimming and Diving meet in Laramie Feb. 20-21.

The Lander Tigers, now with a state-winning streak of 24 years, earned 353 points, to outdistance the Panthers (177) and the Buffalo Bison (175).

With a handful of PHS swimmers in finals on Feb. 21, the Panthers came out with a championship title in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 100-yard breaststroke, as well as new school records in the 200 medley relay and 100 breaststroke.

The 25-year-old relay record (1:42.37) was broken by senior Richard Spann, sophomore Nate Johnston, senior Jay Cox and junior Tarren Blackmore with a final time of 1:40.54. The foursome placed second.

For four seniors, Ben Cannizzaro, Cox, Bryce Hogen and Spann, it’s time to hang up their suits and goggles.

“This season I’ve become more and more of a leader,” Cannizzaro said. “I faced a shoulder injury making it hard to swim at full power for a bit. I am extremely proud of my team and all that was accomplished. The team grew to be a great set of men and I can’t wait to see how they grow. The team doesn’t really need to change anything, but instead keep doing what they are doing.”

Canizzarro noted the relationship with his teammates during his swim career.

“The highlights of my high school swim career would be making a second family,” Cannizzaro said. “These guys will be with me for the rest of my life. Stick with the sport but more importantly, stick with each other.”

“I have grown more as a person rather than a swimmer. I have become a more personable person I believe.” 

Four-year diver Hogen placed 5th in 1 meter diving and 12th in 100 breaststroke. 

For the 2020-21 swim season, the next senior class will have low numbers to lead the Panthers.

“The team needs to come together under a very small number of seniors,” Hogen said. “More than likely [it’ll only be] one. Enjoy the ride because before you know it, it’s all over.”

Johnston, who won the 100 breaststroke title and was on the winning relay team, saw the many ups and downs the team faced the past two years.

“Freshman year started off really rough, since the swim team was attacked by a sickness for more than half the season, so going from that season to this season was a major improvement,” Johnston said. “[The] times were faster, team was healthy, and the practices were not interrupted nearly as much, making the transition a huge difference.

“Mainly the times are the biggest change, the hard practices and constant commitment from our teammates helped with that growth a lot. Jay was usually the one wanting us to strive further and get practice done correctly.”

Johnston’s work throughout the season paid off when he was seeded second after preliminaries on the first day.

“During the Riverton meet, Coach Fuller said that I could possibly take Kacey’s record that season,” Johnston said. “And seeing that by the end of the swim season I had accomplished that, [it] made me feel like I had performed well. Being on the podium was one of the biggest reliefs I have ever felt. The feeling knowing that you trained so hard for that spot and seeing yourself basically on top of the world feels amazing.”

“After I got down, I went over to my teammates and family and started to let out tears. [Even] the relay podium was super unexpected and seeing that we got two seniors a state champion place made us feel very accomplished and it was amazing to see Lander give up their gold.”

With 24-time state championship team Lander, who won breaststroke in the 2018-19 season. 

Lander also won seven of the twelve events at state this season, so they’re now going to push to win more events for the following years. 

“I am going to work and improve my breaststroke, mainly due to the rival team Lander,” Johnston said. “After seeing that I had made a state champion place, [Lander] knew me all of the sudden; they’re going to push hard this next season to steal back the No. 1 spot, which is why it will be a challenging fight for a state title and it will require lots of work to get there. 

Johnston credits Cox for his leadership on the team.

“The team should continue to get that motivation that Jay had brought on the team, and hopefully that will help the team improve a lot,” Johnston said. “We will have to swim our best and get as many qualifying times as possible, so mainly the team should focus on keeping track of the workouts and give it their all during the meets.”

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