The four senior captains of the Falcons swim team never imagined they’d be swimming at the high school level for the last time. While for some swimmers the season has come to an end, these four ladies have swum past districts and regionals and are now headed to states.

Seniors Ellie Berdusco, Lauri and Kristi Schleicher and Kristen Brockett have been swimming together as one relay team since their sophomore year and the bond between them has strengthened throughout the years.

“It obviously feels a little weird being one of the oldest members on the team, but I’m glad that I’ve been able to get to this point with my sister, Ellie, and Kristen. We are a family,” Lauri said.

Tenth grade was only the start of their glory years, as it was the first year they made it to states as a relay team.

“Each of us have been swimming since we could walk, maybe even before,” Lauri said. “But we kept the sport fresh for each other in the sense that there was always a new joke between us or new goals that we’d set.”

It’s apparent that the younger swimmers on the team looked up to these seniors for guidance and support, too. They have been through a great deal together, including injuries and losses. Aside from setting school records, as the captains it was their job to lead a team composed of many young swimmers.

Berdusco said that she loves to be a leader to the young ones and was excited to finish out her high school swimming career in a positive way.

“I am sad that this is my last year, but also ready to start collegiate swimming next year,” Berdusco said, who will be attending Notre Dame in the fall of 2015.

“There were a whole bunch of middle schoolers that joined the team who hadn’t swum before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect but they all picked it up so quickly and have continued to improve,” Kristi said. “The kids who have been on the team for several years are still improving, which is fantastic.”

During the regular season, before districts, regionals and states, the biggest swim meet was the FSPA in Stuart, Florida, the same pool where states would be held.

The relay was not seeded first in the 200-freestyle relay and so they knew that Tampa Prep and Shorecrest wanted to beat them. They’d developed a rivalry since sophomore year.

“Before we got onto the blocks though, we stood in a huddle and said to each other that this would be the last time we ever swam this relay at regionals and at the North Shore pool. It wasn’t feelings of sadness at that point, it was simply determination,” Lauri said. “We ended up beating our number one rival, Tampa Prep, by 0.17 seconds and were regional champions.”

Lauri said that swimming in a relay of seniors is absolutely incredible because while regionals is pure adrenaline, states is pure emotion. They knew they had absolutely no reason to leave anything in the pool at regionals.

“In addition to the 200-freestyle relay team qualifying for states, the 400-freestyle relay also made it to states.” Berdusco said. “This was extra special since we never have made it to states in that race in the past years.”

“We’re all proud that we could be the first Saint Stephen’s swim team to bring two relays to states,” Kristi said.

Considering these results, it’d be quite natural to say that they will cherish these memories far into the future.

Lauri said that since the team has grown so close together, they feed off of one another’s energy and as she noted, it definitely worked.

“It was the last event of the night — around 9 PM — and we had been swimming since 5 AM. I was the first swimmer for the relay and when it came to Ellie finishing, we all looked up at the scoreboard and saw our time, which was unbelievable, allowing us to win our heat,” Lauri said. “I remember it so clearly though because we were jumping up and down and hugging each other. We actually made our coach cry with joy. It was pretty amazing.”

“Regionals was bittersweet because a part of me was glad that swimming was over because I have a shoulder injury, but at the same time I love my team and Coach Lee, obviously, so it was still kind of sad,” Brockett said.

“It still hasn’t really hit me that this is my last season and it probably won’t until after states. At regionals we were all running off of pure adrenaline and we will be at states too, but I’m sure once we swim our last relay it will finally sink in,” Kristi said.