The Penn Boys Swim & Dive Team claimed the title of All Northern Indiana Conference championship winner on Feb 1.
After an undefeated 7-0 season, the Kingsmen team competed at Elkhart Aquatic Center against teams Elkhart, New Prairie, Saint Joseph, SB Riley, SB Adams, SB Washington, and Marian.
Some notable happenings of the meet include Penn’s Nate Temeles, Luke Temeles, and Kelan Whitehouse taking the top three spots in 100 Freestyle and Sawyer Wells, Noah Rossow, and Seth Werntz taking those same spots in 500 Freestyle. Leo Ni, Matthew Weeks, and Max Barnes also took top three in 100 Backstroke.
In terms of relays, Matthew Weeks, Cole Stevenson, Leo Ni, and Charlie Christianson made it to first place in the 200 Medley Relay, with the group consisting of Curtis Markowski, Max Barnes, Josh Seluzhitskiy, and Seth Werntz coming in a close second.
Seluzhitskiy joined with Stevenson, Christianson, and Nate Temeles to then take the crown in 200 Freestyle Relay. Then alone, he placed second in the 200 Individual Medley.
“It was a bittersweet experience,” Seluzhitskiy said. “While I was ecstatic with the outcomes and amazed at how far our team has come, it also motivated me to reach for that top position in the future.”
The trend of exceeding expectations flows throughout the entire Penn Swim & Dive Team, with Coach John Van Driessche being named All-NIC Coach of the Year for the eighth time. Under his leadership, Swimmers Alayna Riggins (Girls) and Nate Temeles (Boys) were named Most Valuable Players in all of Northern Indiana.
This is Van Dreissche’s first year at Penn, following a 26 year reign at Riley High School. One of his major philosophies as a coach is to expect more than what’s expected.
“We try to instill the mindset that this is what we are supposed to do. We certainly celebrate our successes but we don’t acted shocked or surprised when records happen,” he said.
Under his leadership, Swimmers Alayna Riggins (Girls) and Nate Temeles (Boys) were named Most Valuable Players in all of Northern Indiana. To keep up with this mindset, the team has a heavy emphasis on overall health.
“We focused on having good technique and making sure we maintained good habits like getting a good night’s rest, eating nutritious meals, stretching after practice, etc,” Seluzhitskiy said. “In regards to mental preparation, we had team-bonding meetings, visualized our races, and made sure we maintained a positive mindset going into the meet.”
From early mornings to late evenings, the swim team practices year round. It takes a lot of grit, determination, and hard work, but it always ends up paying off in terms of rankings.
“I think this really shows how dedicated we are, not just as a team but as a school, which is reflected in the multitude of other accomplishments Penn has obtained, Seluzhitskiy said. “I also feel as though this ‘title’ is something that has urged us to maintain excellence and push ourselves to our full potential.”
Despite Penn’s home pool facing some difficulties the week leading up to the final NIC meet, the team reigned number one.
“We swam up to our potential. We had so much depth compared to the other conference teams, we were clearly in favor of winning all year long,” he said.
Swim is a practice of endurance and resilience, and the Penn Boys’ Swim Team dominated those skills this season.
