On Saturday Sept. 14, the Saint Stephen’s Swim Team headed to GT Bray Park to compete against Braden River, Bradenton Christian, and Bayshore, along with several other local schools in a county swim meet. 

By end of the meet, the Falcon swimmers had won ten gold, three silver, and five bronze medals.  

Eighth grade science teacher and Head Swim Coach Dr. Paul Suprenand believes the team’s success on Saturday wouldn’t have been possible without hard-work and individualized preparation. 

“We make sure that every individual has a way in which their practice helps them prepare for the meet, ” Suprenand said.  “Whether it’s practicing a certain stroke, how to finish, or how to make turns, so they’re not going in with the unknown. They already know what they need to do.”

Suprenand’s philosophy about preparation has  paid off. For the past three years, the Falcons have won almost all local swim meets against schools in the same division, and have even gone to states with multiple swimmers.

This year, the team has won every local meet they’ve participated in.  

During the last weekend’s meet, there was some uncertainty regarding which swimmers were participating in which events, due to some events being merged in order to shorten the meet.  

Senior swimmer Allison Lombardi found the meet chaotic, but enjoyable nonetheless

“I was in four events.” Lombardi said. “I was just trying to catch my breath, and it was really fun.” 

In swim meets, a scoring system is used based on how both individual swimmers and the team performs as a whole in individual events and relays. 

Some of the top individual performances from Falcons included sophomore Blair Wootson in breaststroke, as well as junior Jack Supernand, freshman Piper Pullen, and sophomore Camryn Sanders, earning the top one through four spots respectively.

Piper Pullen, who earned the third place spot overall, is enthusiastic about how her team swam at the event, and is already setting big goals for the future. 

“We did really well,” Pullen said. “We wiped the board with wins. We’re working to drop our times to get to the States at the end of the year.”

The swim team’s success this season isn’t enough, for Suprenand, who wants the team to be the best they can be.

“I am going to keep challenging them, and keep making them work hard,” Suprenand said. “Those successes that make them an outstanding team and outstanding individuals come because they are pushed. I want to make sure they are the best they can be.”

The falcons next meet is October 4th at GT Bray Park, so come out and support our swimmers!