Following outstanding performances and receiving the first place title at the 2020 Minnesota State High School League Boys Section 2A Swim & Dive Championships, the BreckBlake Boys’ Swim and Dive team has won a State title for their fourth consecutive year. The boys had a 278 point lead on second-place team, being, Delano-Watertown-Mayer.
Lucio Bollettieri ’22 describes the team’s atmosphere as, “the team[’s] spirit was so present and you could feel it during every moment of the meet… the amount of energy was tangible and it was very exciting just to be there and cheering on the guys.” With the State meet being the culmination of the boys’ seasons, many experienced a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season, which contributed to their success in the meet.
Many of the boys had very large time improvements between the Section and State meet, which contributed to their very high score at State. At Sections, Charlie Egeland ‘23 finished his 200 yard freestyle in first place with atime of 1:45.44 and further improved, swimming around a “1:44” at State, helping the team to win another State title. Nam Truong ’23 also shares, “for my 100 fly, I had major improvements from the beginning to the end of the season.” Bollettieri is looking forward to his future swimming the 500 yard freestyle, where he received second at Sections and fourth at the State meet.
In addition to a successful season, the boys have formed tight bonds with each other. Bollettieri explains that “the team community that we’ve built over the years, and this year especially, keeps us close together. We are really proud of any of us that succeed and it was just really nice to have that feeling [of success] with us.” While winning their fourth consecutive State title, the boys have also forged connections on the team that will continue to be strengthened in the seasons to come.
The BreckBlake Boys’ Swim and Dive team is very excited about their big win and is in anticipation of their future seasons of successful meets and more Section and State titles. Spencer Okoronkwo ‘22 shares that he’s “looking forward to next year, I’m going to be one of the older people on the team just being able to help some of the younger kids, especially in middle school; having more of a leadership role on the team I think is going to be really exciting.” The older team members will continue to carry on the legacy of close team bonds and successful seasons.
