Boys Swimming & Diving

2024-25 Season Review

Boys Swimming & Diving

The Roncalli boys swimming & diving  team had a fantastic season, and they peaked at exactly the right time! They came together really well at the end of the season, and each swimmer found their role within the team and understood what needed to be done to help the team achieve their goals. In the preseason, the Royals were hoping for a 4th place finish in the Circle City Conference. After a tight race, they ended up third among other conference schools! The team finished one spot up from last year in sectionals as well with a 6th place finish, and they also scored 16 more points than last season. The very best swim of the season was the 400 Free Relay during the sectional finals. The Royals were up one point ahead of Lawrence Central going into the finals, so the group knew they needed to give it their all. Junior captain Ben McGaha, sophomores Axel Gardner and JP Miller and freshman Espn Schacht each had their best times of the year during that relay, solidifying their 6th place finish as a team. 

Coach Cox R’07 shared, “The team had 83% of their best times during prelims of sectionals, which was not long after hitting 56% of their best times during conference. Those are really good numbers for those meets and exactly where we want to be during that time in the season. The team hit their marks in training and worked hard when they needed to work hard and rested and tapered when they needed to taper.” 

Ben McGaha was named the team MVP, an Iron-Athlete and All-Circle City Conference in the 100 Back and 100 Fly, where he was also the conference champion. He also found himself breaking two school records this year, the first being a 23-year-old record for points scored in a season. Ben Dexter R’02 held the previous record of 425 points, but McGaha took over the top spot with 449.5 points. He now holds the school record in average points per meet with an average of 32.11 points as well.  The previous record of 28.15 was held by Adam Pongracz R’16. Sophomore Joey McCoy joined McGaha with an All-Circle City Conference recognition for the 100 Free, and he also received the Roncalli Sportsmanship Award. Other notable Roncalli awards given out this season were senior Roman Salcedo getting the Mental Attitude Award and the Leadership Award going to Axel Gardner.