Kelsey Richter ’20

Asha Murray ’20

The boys swim team just came off of an exhilarating Inter-Ac win for the first time in 49 years. Coach Buggy, our athletic director, spoke to this accomplishment, “Through hours of hard work and fearless efforts, a group of talented athletes brought the coveted Inter-Ac Swim Title back to EA for the first time in 49 years! There were countless individual achievements along the way, but it was the collective efforts by all that catapulted this team to a championship. This swimming achievement is a tremendous source of pride to our athletic program. Congratulations Coaches and Athletes on winning the 2018-19 Inter Ac Boys Swim/Dive Championship! Good luck at Easterns!” Leading up to the big meet the team spent a great amount of time preparing. Going into the meet senior captain Ivan Puskovitch ‘19 said, “[he] believed that [they] were the better team, it was just about maintaining confidence”. Puskovitch, who will continue his academic and swimming career at the University of Southern California next fall, has had a key role on this team since eighth grade, and now as a senior captain, he has succeeded in bringing the Inter-Ac title home. Puskovitch, himself, accomplished a double win with a win in both the 200 IM and the 500 Free. Along with Puskovitch, Sam Wesley ‘20 and Cole Whitsett ‘20 also earned double wins to help push the team to their victory. In addition, the team swept the relays, which reward the team double the points than an individual race does. As for diving, Vlad Puskovitch ‘20 placed first. Though there were many individual  accomplishments in the pool, Ivan Puskovitch ‘19 speaks on the teamwork of the EA swimmers , “though swimming is a very individual sport, the great thing about the EA swim and dive team is that everyone is always cheering and supporting their teammates, which motivates [them] to swim the best [they] can.” This year was the 4th time that one of EA’s top swimmers, Cole Whitsett ‘20, competed in the Inter-Ac. Cole is committed to the University of Tennessee, where he will continue his swim career. Whitsett spoke about the team’s spirit leading up to and during the big meet, “[We were] just trying to carry the same energy we had throughout the season into champs. We’re always cheering each other on, nobody is sitting down, everyone is always watching each other, all positivity, picking each other up when we are down.” Coming off of the win, Whitsett also noted, “We are all super excited, but we’re also staying humble about it.” The EA swim and dive team has proven themselves to be a great threat in the Inter-Ac league and each individual has shown to be an asset but Puskovitch ‘19 especially credits the underclassmen stating, “Swim meets can really be won by the second, third, and fourth place points and we have a lot of lowerclassmen that come to practice every day and work from the minute they get into the pool to the minute they get out, and that shows. They are the reason why we had such a successful season.” Each and every member of the team contributed to the historic win. Good Luck at Easterns to both swim and dive teams!