The boys swim team dove into their last and most important meet of the season. After months of training, the opportunity to prove themselves was finally in front of them. State.

The boys ended their season with a sixth place finish at the 2022 3A State Swim Meet. Rocky Mountain junior Rui Parker, sophomore Jon Hawley and senior Nate Johnston qualified for finals and scored points for the team. Johnston took first overall in the 100 yard breaststroke and fifth in the 200 yard individual medley. Parker took sixth in the 100 yard butterfly and fourth in the 100 yard backstroke while Hawley competed in diving and took eighth.

“We had 18 or 19 of the 25 people on the team qualify,” Johnston said. “I’m just super proud of everyone for going out and doing their best, even if they didn’t make it to finals.”

Although the team was predicted to take fourth overall, fierce competition has progressed over the years.

“It was hard to tell where we stood because everything has gotten so competitive,” Johnston said. “Every team has been moving up and the times are getting faster.”

Johnston swam a record breaking time of 57.63. This broke the school record and secured his third state title in the 100 yard breaststroke. Furthermore, Parker swam a competing time of 55.34 in the 100 yard butterfly to secure himself a sixth place finish.

Hawley is looking into the future for himself. Placing as a sophomore gives him hope to continue placing well in the future. Hawley explained how he carefully planned out his dives to maintain in the running. The hard work paid off as he ended with 293 points in finals.

“You can see the hard work that every member of the team gives,” Hawley said. “It’s going to take a lot of determination but I only see us growing as a team as we continue to learn more and more and develop our skills.”

Despite this, the boys said they simply didn’t have enough swimmers in finals to secure the spot they hoped for. After all, the boys swim team is relatively small compared to other 3A teams that they compete against.

“It’s not like we’re ever going to have fifty people like Lander,” Johnston said. “And looking to the future, I don’t think [the boys swim team] is going to be as big as it was this year for a really long time.”

The swim team will lose nine seniors this year; however the Panther swimmers hope to continue their long-standing legacy.

“These are the people that I’ve been with year after year,” sophomore Gabe Rose said. “It was very emotional the very last day of state knowing some of these people were leaving and never coming back.”

With the prospect of new freshmen in the coming year, the team can only hope to maintain the numbers to keep them in the running.

“The freshman classes are different every year,” Hawley said. “It’ll be a new challenge for us together as a team.”