Swimmers put their bodies through a lot of work throughout the season so they can give their peak performance at the state competition at the end of the year.  This season, Juan Diego Catholic High School swimmers had their sights set on the 3^rd and 4^th of February -- the date of that final contest.

The state meet was held at Brigham Young University.  The girls' team took third overall and the boys took sixth.  Two state records that were set by the JD girl’s freestyle and medley relay teams in the region meet a week earlier were broken again in the state meet.  Senior Kelsey Leeson also won every single event in which she competed.

      That region meet that led up to the final competition took place January 28 and “fulfilled our expectations,” said Leeson, one of three team captains. She contributed greatly to the Juan Diego team’s success at the region competition, winning the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. The girls' 200-yard freestyle relay team also took first and broke a state record by two seconds.

     Sophomore Alaina Finley also had two first-place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard freestyle at the region meet.

One week of the swim team’s regular season training is called “hell week,” a period of time before Christmas that requires the hardest, most intense workouts of the year.  JD head swimming coach John Moran says “this is a rite of passage for the kids.” During one practice this season, the team swam 10,500 yards individually, which is 420 lengths of the pool by each person.

Moran explained the three different phases of the swim season.  The first involves cardio workouts where swimmers benefit from longer swims to build stamina. The second is ballistic speed training, which consists of shorter sprints where swimmers are told to hold their breath to build lung capacity.  The third is a taper period to rest for big, upcoming end-of-the-year meets.

The second phase is the hardest to complete and is what primarily makes up “hell week.”  The purpose of having this extreme week of practice is so the swimmers can get in the best shape possible before the Christmas break and then return to race for their best times at end-of-the-year meets.

The team has five academic all-state swimmers on the team.  “You have to admire the time management by these swimmers,” Coach Moran said. “They are well-rounded kids who work really hard.”        

Some of the members of the team are also involved in other activities and clubs at Juan Diego such as debate. Moran cooperates with the debate team and other activities to make sure his swimmers have time to be at each of their events.

One JD handicap is that other teams outnumber them.  JD has just 19 girls and eight boys to combine for 27 total members, whereas other 3A teams like Judge Memorial have 60 swimmers or Wasatch has 84. With more swimmers, there is a bigger talent pool from which to choose who will qualify for the most important meets.

Riley Rose, a junior on JD's swim team, says “this year is different than past years because we do not have any male senior leaders like we have had in past years. More leadership is needed from the junior guys.”

The captains of the team are junior Jeppesen Feliciano, senior Kelsey Leeson, and senior Megan Stephanz.   “I know my place as captain,” said Leeson. “I keep people in line when Coach is not able to, at practice and during meets.” 

JD Swimmer Kelsey Watnes was proud of her teammates.  "It was amazing considering how small our team is and the small amount of people that swam individual events."

Coach Moran said if a state record was broken he would let the team shave his mustache. So after the state competition they shaved his mustache and went to IHOP together to celebrate a successful season.  

"The part that I enjoy most is that I get to have a close relationship with all the members of the team," Moran said.  I get to help them set and accomplish their team and individual goals from the beginning."