Sink or Swim: Highlighting the Aqua Cougs

One of the most successful winter sports teams at Charlotte Catholic is the swim and dive team. The team has numerous State Championships under their belt and hopes to win again this year. 

All team members had the chance to compete at five dual meets this season. The girls went undefeated and the boys had a record of 2-3. All season long, swimmers vied for a Top 4 spot in their event to qualify for the Southwestern 4A Conference Championship and worked to achieve automatic regional time, guaranteeing a regional spot.

The swimmers ended their regular season on January 10th at a meet against Providence High School. However, this was not just any meet—it was senior night. Coach Nicholls recognized each senior and their accomplishments in a speech prior to the meet. She highlighted Abby Druhan, University of Pennsylvania commit, and Lauren Bernardo, Louisiana State University commit. The joyful night resulted in a win for the girls and securing an undefeated season for them, the perfect end to the regular season. Senior Elaina Grady said, “It was fun to celebrate the end of four great swim seasons with all my friends.”

CCHS swimmers dive into competition at Providence High School Credit: Katie Finnican

The athletes are preparing for the 4A Regional Championships, but first they needed to conquer Conference, the first meet of the championship season. Along with the top four swimmers in every event, Catholic entered two exhibition swimmers, competitors that cannot score, in 50 freestyle and 100s of each stroke. Sophomore Emma Redican, who swam the 100 backstroke, expressed her excitement prior to the meet: “My favorite part of being on the team is cheering for my teammates. I am excited to swim at Conference for the second year in a row.” Adding to their impressive record, the Lady Cougars came out on top, beating the next team by 80 points. The boys team finished third on the podium. Overall, Conference was successful for the swimmers.

Yet to compete in their Conference meet, the divers on the CCHS team have been hard at work this season. Catholic’s dive team consists of 3 boys and 3 girls. They competed at 4 regular season meets, which are unscored and used for practice for the championship meets. The athletes used these opportunities to meet requirements for certain dives at Conference. During the championship season, the divers’ scores are added on to the swimmers’ scores to create a cumulative score for the entire team. 

As they advance to Regionals and States, the CCHS swimmers and divers hope to continue their success.