By Jack Lancaster
The William Peace swim team traveled to Kingsport, Tennessee to compete in the 2024 ISSC Championship against the in-conference opponents including Piedmont University Lions, Southern Virginia University Knights, Salem College Spirits, and the Warren Wilson College Owls.
“It was a really great time,” said Madi Ayscue. “I enjoyed being able to travel for such a big meet.”
The Pacers started the meet off by breaking both the men’s and women’s school records in the 200 medley relay. The two teams consisting of Alesia Brack, Alexis Inman, Madison Autry, Sophia Swenson, Elijah Horman, Noah Goetsch, Joseph Williams, and Jack Lancaster etched their names onto our record board but also took home a pair of third-place finishes.
Elijah Horman and Cora Rebert were the featured athletes competing in the 500 freestyle and both earned a spot on the podium at fourth and fifth place respectively. Senior Noah Jimison went on to break our school record and earn his first-ever conference title, winning the race by just under four seconds.
In an always exciting event, the 50 freestyle featured a second-place finish from Sophia Swenson, a fourth-place finish from Alexis Inman, a new school record and fifth-place finish from Jack Lancaster, a seventh-place finish from Noah Goetsch, and a ninth-place finish from Joseph Williams.
“I’m proud to tell everyone that it was my last swim meet as a senior on our team,” said Sam Autry. “The experience with my team and taking titles showed how much our 5+ months of hard work pays off”
The 100 butterfly earned us a few podium appearances including a sixth-place finish from Sam Autry and a fifth-place finish from Joseph Williams in which he broke his own school record during preliminary.
Sophia Swenson finished in second during her 200 freestyle earning another silver for her and Jack Lancaster finished in third place after dropping over two seconds from his previous lifetime best.
Four Pacers saw the podium in the 100 breaststroke. Noah Jimison earned his second conference title after narrowly winning his race. Noah Goetsch won the consolation final and finished in seventh overall. Alexis Inman found her first individual title after winning the 100 breast while her teammates Sam Autry and Brinley Warren finished in second and sixth place.
Finally, to round out the second day of competition, both the men and women finished in third place and the team of Brack, Inman, Autry, Swenson broke yet another school record in the 400 medley relay.
The pacers had 22 school records broken, six conference titles, 78 lifetime best times and 188 season best times. The 2023-2024 swim season is certainly something the Pacers should be proud of.