District Swim Meet

For the majority of Blanchet’s varsity swim team, the season has officially come to an end. The 2025 district swim meet was a long, chaotic event. The meet was originally planned to take place over two days, Friday and Saturday, February 14 and February 15, however, the snowfall on Thursday prevented numerous teams from safely reaching the Albany pool where the event would take place. As a result, the first day of districts was canceled, isolating all swimming to the second day. District swim weekend, for multiple districts, is already packed with anxious swimmers, excited parents, and stressed coaches. With the impediment of weather and the numerous districts who use the Albany facility, district four, the one Blanchet belongs to, was pushed to start at 4:30 pm, Saturday afternoon, and conclude at 10:00 pm that evening.   Despite the twenty-four hour delay and the five-and-a-half hours of swimming, Blanchet swimmers performed well. Two of our swimmers performed so well, they swam their way to state. Markus Hildebrandt (senior) and Caitlin Courtney (freshman) are both continuing their 2025 swim season with a trip up to Beaverton Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22. Caitlin will be competing in the 100 freestyle, and Markus will be competing in the 100 backstroke. I was able to talk to Markus about how he feels about his last district meet as a Blanchet swimmer. He claims, “It feels so good to think that all of my hard work, going and doing club (swimming) with Paul (Hegney, head Blanchet coach and club swim team coach) a whole year long, actually paid off and got me second, third, fourth, and fifth places today.” After hearing him talk about the hard work he put into earning his medals, I followed up by asking him what advice he would give to incoming and returning swimmers for next season. His response was, “Enjoy every second of it… and stay hydrated.”  The swimmers were not the only ones to put in work that weekend. The coaches, Paul Hegney, Anna Kosiewicz, and Marty Nanneman all worked hard to prepare their swimmers for the district meet. Anna expressed her pride for the entire team when I talked to her, stating, “I am very, very proud. They worked hard, and put a lot into today even with the crazy schedule.” When asked about what advice she would give to future Blanchet swimmers, she assured me that the small things matter; the pressure and the expectations the coaches have for their swimmers is so they can give the team their best chance at getting to state.