On Feb. 12, 2022 the PV boys swim team capped off a historic season at the IHSAA state tournament. They finished as the sixth best swim team in the state, which was the highest placement they have achieved in recent history. This swimming season, the team also managed to break nine school records.
Sophomore Owen Chiles, senior Charlie Helcher, senior Parker Paulsen and senior Bryan Caraman got the Spartans off to a very great start, making the podium with a seventh place in the 200 meter medley relay. Later in the day, sophomore Will Gorman swam an excellent 200-meter freestyle. Coming in at a blazing time of 1:42.07, Gorman broke the school record for the third time of the season.
This was not the only record that was broken on Feb. 12, though. That day, senior swimmer Parker Paulson overthrew the previous school record by swimming a time of 1:53.42 in the 200-meter individual medley. The final record of the day was broken by Caraman, Ryan Vance, Chiles and Gorman when they broke the school 200 free relay record for the second weekend in a row with a time of 1:25.69. This time was the fourth best in the state.
Breaking so many school records was certainly exciting for the PV boys swim team. “None of us could contain the excitement,” stated Hechler, “Especially for us seniors, the past four years we’ve been staring at the record board wondering if anyone is ever going to go faster than that. And by God it happened. All of the heavy hitters on our team are finally starting to get the recognition they deserve. We’re still unbelievably excited.”
One of the largest contributors at state swimming for PV was Chiles. Chiles participated in four different swims for the Spartans, doing an excellent job in each. Chiles did the backstroke in the 200-meter medley relay in which his team got seventh place. He also participated in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle relay in which he got eighth place and fourth place, respectively. Finally he competed in the 100-meter backstroke and achieved fourth place. Chiles was a very large contributor who racked up plenty of points for PV.
The state swim meet was an excellent ending to a historic season for the Spartans. “We were ecstatic about our performance. That was the highest we’ve ever placed and if anything, it really shows that the work we’ve put in this past season really paid off,” stated Hechler. Caraman was also very happy about their performance at state and throughout the season. “Overall the team had an excellent season and a great performance at state. Everybody on the team put up their best times of the season and we had a lot of fun,” said Caraman.
The 2022 season will definitely go down in PV swimming history. A total of nine new records will be going up on the wall at PVHS. After a placement of sixth at state, this Spartan team arguably could have been the best Pleasant Valley boys swim team ever.
Colin Meyer • Feb 24, 2022 at 1:02 pm
A historic swim season indeed! Definitely one of the strongest Pleasant Valley Boys swim teams I have seen. The following years will have big shoes to fill.