Diving Into Districts

The Maclay Varsity Swim and Dive Team Gears up for a Strong Postseason in Their First Round of Districts

Photo by Brooke Nohle/Maclay Andalusian

The Marauders made a splash at districts and pulled a win over 10 of the toughest teams in the area. On Oct. 17, 2023, the Maclay varsity swim and dive team competed at Dwight H. Hunter pool in Gainesville, Florida. The boys swim team finished first overall and the girls swim team finished second behind PK Yonge high school. Both will be advancing onto regionals.

For fall sports, districts are the first round of elimination for the postseason. If a team wins, they advance. If not, they are done for the season. This means that athletes must perform their best in order to stay in the competition. This can bring unwanted stress atop the rest of the athletes’ pre-meet nerves.

“The best way for me to handle stress is sticking to my race day routine,” senior Kaitlyn Guyer said. “This helps me calm my nerves and rely on my training to perform well. I also like to stretch and take naps between events.”

The top performers for Maclay swim are senior Bella Ekk, freshman McKay Yearty and senior Hanson Higdon. Senior Sara Mnookin competed as the only diver for Maclay and is another top performer for the Marauders.

Ekk outshined her competitors and placed in both of her events. She swam a time of 1:54 and placed first in the 200 freestyle. She also placed second in the 100 freestyle, with a time of 0:53.

“I just focus on what I need to do and not worry about anyone else,” Ekk said. “I focus on my own race because if I let other people’s performance cloud my race, then I won’t do as well.”

Following Ekk’s performance, Higdon outperformed his opponents, placing first in the 100 freestyle as well as the 50 freestyle.

Aside from the swimmers, Mnookin took first place in the girls 1A diving competition. She earned a final score of 341.25 points with a total of 11 dives.

“I am happy with my performance for most of my dives,” Mnookin said. “I am really excited to move forward for regionals and overall had a great experience at districts.”

The Marauders are heading into regionals with big expectations and a hunger for another win. They will use this momentum to fuel them to continue to train harder than ever, to perfect their technique in hopes of earning another win at regionals.