The swim team competed in the Virginia High School League (VHSL) State Championships on Friday, Feb. 17. Not only did one swimmer earn a medal in two events, but one of the relay teams broke the school record for the second time this season.

After an already successful regular season, Stone Bridge swimmers traveled to Hampton, Virginia on Thursday to compete against the top swimmers in the state at the Class 5A State Championships. Ten athletes, six boys and four girls, made up the state championship team.

To qualify for states the swimmers had to hit a state qualifying time during the regular season or, during the regional championships, place in the top five for an individual event or top four in a relay.

“I felt a lot more calm than I did for regionals, which I think was good because when I feel less pressure, I perform better,” sophomore Anna Klotz said.

Klotz competed in the 100 yard butterfly, the 100 yard backstroke, and as a part of the girls 200 yard freestyle relay team.

“Leading up to my [preliminary] races at states I was not super nervous, but at finals I was way more nervous,” Klotz said. “While I was sitting and waiting to walk [out], I felt really anxious because I was sitting with some of the best swimmers in the state. But once I started walking and heard all the cheering and music, I got a rush of adrenaline and knew I would be able to swim fast.”

Klotz finished 4th in the 100 yard butterfly with a personal record time of 57.77 seconds and 6th in the 100 yard backstroke in 57.65 seconds, earning a medal in each event.

“Right when you touch the wall, you are able to look up at the board and see your time [and] place,” Klotz said. “I was really happy about both races and I saw that I went up a place from prelims in both events, so that was exciting.”

Aside from having success individually, Stone Bridge swimmers also proved to be competitive when working together during relay events.

After breaking the school record during the preliminary race with a time of 3:22, two seconds faster than the previous record, the boys 100 yard freestyle relay team, consisting of Nathan Bruley, Mejd Hutchison, Musashi Horrigan, and Gavin Harrison, broke it again in finals.

“We were all really hyped the first time we broke it in [preliminaries] but when we broke it again in finals by 3 more seconds we were ecstatic,” sophomore Mejd Hutchison, the second leg of the relay team, said.

The relay team ended with a final time of 3:19, placing 11th out of 16 teams.

“Leading up to the record-breaking relay I knew we were going to do it,” Hutchison said. “The energy of being at states and being there with my friends and relay team all led up to us breaking [the record] by 5 seconds.”

Among the final team scores, the girls team ranked 17th out of 27 teams while the boys placed 25th out of 32.

“Everybody gets along and we all cheer each other on,” Hutchison said. “Everybody is happy for each other’s successes.”