Record-breaking performances highlight Cape Henry Collegiate success at state meet
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A recent meet held at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, which hosts the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) swim program, showcased outstanding talent and determination from Cape Henry Collegiate (CHC) varsity swim team. CHC took 12 swimmers to states this year — four males and eight females ranging from grades 8-12. In a series of impressive performances, the team made waves by setting new records and winning states for the first time, leaving a lasting mark on the competition.
“This is a very well-established team,” said Trish Zimmerman, CHC associate head coach. “I’m happy to share that our girl’s swim team won their first-ever Swimming Division 2 States Championship. The team has never won states so it’s a big deal to finally do that. It’s also pretty neat to watch six of our records, that we’ve had for years, fall. Here is a rundown of our accomplishments from finals both days.”
Joslyn Ervin, Olivia Taylor, Avery Taylor, Piper Strach: 6th place in Women’s 200 Medley Relay with a new school record 1:50.06.
- Avery Taylor: 13th place in Women’s 200 IM
- Olivia Taylor: 14th place in Women’s 50 free
- Piper Strach: 16th in Women’s 50 free
Finals Saturday:
- Piper Strach: 11th place in Women’s 100 free
- Owen Klimkiewicz: 14th in Men’s 100 free
- Avery Taylor: 10th Women’s 100 back with a new school record of 1:00.48
- Olivia Taylor: 8th in Women’s 100 breaststroke with a new school record of 1.07.78
- Owen Klimkiewicz: 10th in Men’s 100 breaststroke
- Joslyn Ervin, Piper Strach, Olivia Taylor, Avery Taylor: 6th place in Women’s 400 free relay new school record of 3:42.92
The two additional school records that fell this season occurred at the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools meet.
- Olivia Taylor: Women’s 200 IM with a new school record of 2:13.73
- Owen Klimkiewicz: Men’s 200 IM with a new school record of 2.07.89
“This season of coaching was truly extraordinary,” Zimmerman. “Witnessing numerous school records set from when I coached 20 years ago being surpassed this season made a powerful connection to our team’s history and made the journey all the more meaningful. To top off the season, our girl’s team won the state meet for the first time. As we celebrated this remarkable achievement, I couldn’t help but feel the presence of one of our beloved supporters, Mrs. Merni Medley, a former teacher and swim mom, who passed away earlier this winter. She had always been our biggest supporter as her children had swum, and then, of her four children, first her daughter, Liz, and then her son, Carl, coached the team with me in the early 2000s. I look forward to our team’s continued success next year as we are a young team with much more to achieve. If only we could get more boy swimmers, we would be unstoppable.”
Overall, the Cape Henry Collegiate swim team showcased exceptional talent and determination at the state competition. With such impressive performances, the team will surely continue to make strong waves.
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.
