It was a chilly, but sunny morning on October 12. The CCES Girls’ Swimming Team had made it to State and was ready to compete. 

Freshman Ashley Deliberto was excited. “It was my first time going to state,” she says. 

Despite their high hopes, the team suffered a few blows. In addition to one girl having back issues that impeded her performance, the CCES team was disqualified from their 400-relay. “They called a false start, but she only flinched. We would have won the event,” Ashley laments. “No one was happy about that.” 

Whether it was because of nervousness or physical limitations, the CCES team was unfortunately “not at their best”, and they lost to Oceanside and three other state champions. 

However, the competition wasn’t a total loss. Nele Stroebel took third place in the 200 meter, and Claire DePiero won first place in the 50 meter. According to Coach Matt Jacobssen, this is just one testament to his steadily growing team’s achievements. “We had 28 people qualify for State this year, which is huge,” Jacobssen says. “We had a lot of of impressive swims, both at the regular competitions and at state.” This should come as no surprise, considering that both the girls and boys’ teams saw an 80% overall improvement rate.

The pride he feels for his team carries over to the swimmers as well. Each and every one of the swimmers values their team spirit and discipline, which shone through at their final meet. “We really felt like a team, which is something you don’t get as often in such an individual sport as swimming,” Ashely remarked, while Miley Roberts remembers the support she received from her teammates. And while Coach Jacobssen is sad that his team wasn’t able to come out on top, “it was an enormous success”. Judging by the positive energy and encouragement – not to mention skill – of the swimmers, I think CCES can look forward to a bright future. 

*Below are the members of the swim team who qualified for state and those who won the events.

Girls’ State Qualifiers:

Nele Stroebel

Kate Faris

Mollie Folk

Zoe Gandis

Reema Krishniah

Claire DePiero

Mary Wilson Reyner

Antonia Kiriakides

Kylie Larkin

Ashley Deliberto

Arya Krishniah

Emory Allen

Karinne Everly

Eleanor Bishop

Anna Bruner

Boys State Qualifiers:

Arthur Bishop

Nathan DePiero

Porter Brown

John Kopchinski

Noah Nisbet

Cameron Baird

Ethan Riordan

Davis Williams

Kelsey Morse

Davis Katz

Wyatt Weir

Charlie Reyner

Thomas Siachos

State Champions:

Nathan DePiero: 200 Free, 100 Free

Claire DePiero: 50 Free

Arthur Bishop: 100 Back

Girls 200 Free Relay (Mollie Folk, Kylie Larkin, Karinne Everly, Claire DePiero)

Boys 200 Free Relay (Wyatt Weir, Arthur Bishop, Porter Brown, Nathan DePiero)

All State:

Mollie Folk (2nd in the 100 Free and 100 Breaststroke)

Claire DePiero (1st in the 50 free and 3rd in the 100 Free)

Nele Stroebel (2nd in the 100 Fly and 3rd in the 200 IM)

Nathan DePiero (1st in the 200 and 100 Free)

Arthur Bishop (1st in the 100 Back, 3rd in the 200 IM)

Boys 400 Free Relay (2nd Place): Wyatt Weir, Arthur Bishop, Porter Brown, Nathan DePiero