After a quick turn around from the True Team State meet on Wednesday, the Boys’ Swim and Dive team dominated at a dual meet against the Burnsville Blaze this past Friday, January 26th. The Blaze stepped out with a mere 12 team members, and while they put up an ambitious fight, our boys were able to triumph with their usual success; the meet came to a closing score of 84-60.

With only one day of practice separating two meets, getting in a good practice is crucial. “We made sure we definitely got in the water and pumped out some yards,” Junior Jared Dawson explains. Senior Captain Ryan Knipping adds, “It’s a lot of distance, getting the lactic acids out of your body and just getting ready for the next meet; you have to go full force.”

The meet started off with the 200 Yard Medley Relay where Eagan’s A relay took first with swimmers Freshman Emilio Santoyo Lopez, Senior Max Stigman, Junior Colin Kehoe, and Senior Captain Ben Linden as the anchor.

The meet continued and in the 200 Yard IM freshmen Will New, Roni Shrestha, and Chuck Steffen took first, second, and third, respectively. Then came the 50 Yard Free where Freshman Hans Broman and Dawson finished first and second, with a tight race.

The divers excelled, JV members Freshman Aaron Figura and Sophomore Reese Eisenbart taking first and second, while Senior swimmer Anders Broman stepped out onto the diving board to take third. As for Varsity, it was no surprise that Senior Captain Jordan Nguyen and Senior Vessna Lundgren took first and second respectively.

Swimming advanced on and Burnsville swimmer Zach Affeldt took first in the 100 Freestyle. The longest event of a dual meet, the 500 Free, rolled around, and Dawson took first, while Junior Caiden Kuehn finished close behind.

The meet wrapped up with the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, where Knipping, Kuehn, Santoyo Lopez and Kehoe finished it off and secured the win as the team cheered them on at the end of the pool. This isn’t uncommon, the team is very close and Dawson even notes his favorite part of being a swimmer is, “… definitely the team, we’re like one big family.” Part of this family bond comes from spending so much time together, in such a close environment. “When you’re in the pool for 3+ hours a day it gets really monotonous, so you just have to band together with your teammates,” Knipping adds.