The Newsome High School swimming and diving program has been dominant in Hillsborough County, but now they have accomplished something they have never done before. The girls and boys both won the county championship this season. The girls have won three in a row, and four of the last five.
The girls finished 11-0 and are Federal Division champions, and the boys finished 10-1 and are Federal Division champions as well. They had a combined 21-1 record, the best season in the school’s history.
“It means a lot to me that we won county championships since I know how hard everyone had to work to gain points for the team,” said junior Janae Sanders. “It was a team effort to get the title, and I am very proud to be part of it.”
The girls won all three relay events, the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay, which was a big factor in winning the meet. Relays are double points compared to individual events.
“The relays are a really big deal in our program,” said Head Coach Jeff Shotwell. “Our kids love the team aspect of the relays because of their significance in the team scoring at meets. As a coach, it’s fun to see elite athletes buy in to team concepts in an otherwise very individualized sport. It speaks to the character of our kids for sure. They love competing for each other.”
Sanders won the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and broke the county championship record in the 100 backstroke.
“I think that our relays definitely played a big part in winning the team titles,” said Sanders. “I know that my coaches put a lot of effort constructing the ‘perfect’ relays for the meet and I think they did a very good job.”
Senior Tyler Stargardt won the 200 IM, the 100 butterfly and broke the county championship record in both of those events.
“The biggest factors in winning the team titles were the sacrifices people had to make as well as the perseverance of others,” said Stargardt. “In terms of sacrifice, some kids had to swim events they may not have wanted in order to score points for the team. In terms of perseverance, many swimmers bought into our goal of winning a county championship title. They pushed past their limits at practice; they focused on their technique and the little details at practice.”
Sophomore Sophia Torres won the 100 breaststroke and broke the Newsome school record in that event.
The program will compete in districts, regionals and states later in the season. The athletes still have many goals that they want to accomplish.
“My goals for the rest of the season are to place top three in both my individual events,” said Stargardt. “Also, I would like to get two of our relays to states and potentially make finals in one of them. On top of that, a more team-oriented goal would be to win the district title again. We won it last year, so all eyes are on us to win it again.”
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