2013 UHS Swimming and Diving

The boy’s Swimming and Diving team is a much over-looked team at Urbana High School, but one with very dedicated members. The season starts on Dec. 7 against their Big 12 rival, the Danville Vikings, against whom they started off last season with a loss.

Last season was disappointing for the Tigers. It was a winless season, but there were still many milestones for the boys. Every swimmer and diver on the team had at least one personal record throughout the year. A personal record is when a swimmer or diver attains the best time or score he’s ever received in a meet. The significance is that the swimmers and divers showed constant improvement, which will be something to build upon for future seasons.

This season should be a huge improvement from last year because only one Tiger was lost to graduation: Tony Petrotte. He was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the team because of his milestone of qualifying for state last year. That made him the only Tiger to qualify for state then.

However, the team has eight seniors returning this year. The team captain,Zach Heinricher, will be looking forward to his last year on the team and potentially having his best year.

Heinricher said, “I really just feel like if we all come together as a team, we can do a lot better than we have in past seasons.”

Many of the swimmers were anxiously awaiting Nov. 25, the first day of practice this year. Sophomore Carter Huff is among them.

“I cannot wait for this season to start,” Huff said. “I know there will be some pressure on me to perform well, but I know that no matter, what I will have a lot of fun.”

Things are looking up for the predominately upperclassman team of swimmers and divers. Many players and fans are looking forward to the season, and they all strongly encourage anyone to come play for the team at UHS.