As they have done for more than 20 years at Franklin High School (FHS), and more than 50 years in all, swim program coaches Dwain and Dina Picou guided their athletes through another winter season of conference, regional, and state-level meets.
This year, 31 students – 21 girls and 10 boys – competed during a nine-meet regular season, followed by the post-season Mountain Seven Conference (M7C) meet Jan. 18, which in turn led to Regionals, held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. State-level competition took place Feb. 6-7 in Raleigh (diving) and Cary (swimming), respectively.
State meets
“The swimmers did great! We are very proud of them. The girls dropped almost a second in the 200-yard medley relay, after dropping almost six seconds last weekend at Regionals,” Dina Picou exclaimed.
She added, “It is hard to do well at Regionals, and then turn around and do well at State with only two days of practice, but we are very happy with how well all of the swimmers did.”
FHS’s only diving competitor, junior Jonah Brant, placed second in a small group of divers at the Pullen Aquatic Center, in Raleigh, N.C., Feb. 6. His 17/268.5 score placed him ahead of a third-place Carrboro Jaguar and behind a Durham School of the Arts (DSA) Bulldog, who finished first.
The next day in Cary, the Lady Panthers finished 23rd in a group of 61 teams. They scored 25 total points: 10 for the 200-yd medley relay, five in the 100 yd butterfly, four in the 200-yd freestyle relay, and six in the 40-yd freestyle relay.
Achievements of note included a team comprised of seniors Kate Phillips and Zoi Walker and sophomores Kenna Keyworth and Dalila Canzone, who achieved a 19th place (fourth in consolation positioning) finish in the 200-yd medley relay.
The same team finished 15th, (seventh in consolation – for those who lost earlier in the tournament) with a 1:49.76 time in the 200-yd freestyle relay and 14th (sixth in consolation) with a 4:08.33 in the 400-yd freestyle relay.
Kenna placed 13th in the 100-yd butterfly (fifth in consolation), while Zoi finished 16th.
For the boys, senior Gavin Rinker placed 19th in 500 yd freestyle with a time of 5:33.31.
Regionals
“We had an awesome Regional swim and dive meet with great times,” said Dina Picou.
Overall, including individual and team competition, the girls finished seventh while the boys came in 12th place.
Team competition saw the girls finish fifth, dropping nearly six seconds off their time in the 200-yd medley relay. The boys placed 10th while dropping four seconds off their previous fastest.
In the 200-yd individual medley, Alyse Remery finished 16th with a personal best and Thatcher Daniels placed 15thand dropped almost three seconds off his previous best.
In the 100 Fly, Kenna finished sixth, dropping five seconds and Zoi placed eighth, dropping three seconds off her time.
In the 100-yd freestyle, Dalila placed 14th. For the 500 freestyle, Alyse also finished 14th, while Eleanor Kessler was 21st but dropped 17 seconds off her time in the process. Finally, Gavin placed eighth and dropped more than 18 seconds of his previous best.
The 200-yd freestyle relay saw the girls placing sixth, while the boys managed 12th. In the backstroke, Jack Hyatt was 20th, dropping more than 2.5 seconds off his previous fastest.
In the 400 free relay, the girls came in sixth and dropped more than 13 seconds in time; the boys finished 13th.
Diver Jonah Brant was named to the All-Regional team.
M7C Highlights
Mountain Seven Conference (M7C) highlights included both boys and girls placing second in the M7C meet with an overall composite score of 29-2. Individual winners included Zoi (200 freestyle), Jonah in diving, Alyse (500 freestyle), and Gavin, also in the 500.
Team competition winners included the girls 400 free relay with Alyse, Zoi, Kenna, and Dalila competing. For the boys, also in the 400, Gavin Rinker, Thatcher, Gavin Alverson, and Malik Walker comprised the winning team.
Pictured top: FHS SWIM TEAM members headed to Raleigh and Cary, N.C., Feb. 5, for the State 3A Championship meets. From left is Alyse Remery, Kenna Keyworth, Zoi Walker, Kate Phillips, Dalila Canzone, Jack Hyatt, Jonah Brant, Thatcher Daniels, and Gavin Rinker.