At around 8:48 p.m. Saturday at the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center, Ryle swimming coach Jeff Floyd declared the mission accomplished.
Yes, Louisville St. Xavier won its 37th KHSAA state swim and dive team title, but the Raiders did something they’ll remember when they have grandchildren – they won their second straight KHSAA swim and dive combined title, where boys and girls scores are added together.
Ryle finished third in the boys team standings with 181 points. (St. Xavier won with 481.5, and Trinity was second with 258.) When you add the girls’ 124.5 points, the combined results are Ryle 305.5 and Highlands 243.
“A historic night for Ryle swim and dive,” Floyd said. “That’s been our goal and our dream, and I couldn’t be more proud of those kids.”
Highlands coach Kevin Kampschmidt was pleased with his Bluebirds.
“Ryle swam fantastic the past two days,” Kampschmidt said. “We swam great. Second’s a great place to be.”
Ryle’s boys earned points from familiar sources. Junior Chase Knopf finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute, 40.14 seconds) and second in 500 freestyle (4:30.23), and senior Andy Pleiman finished second in the 50 freestyle (20.59) and third in the 100 freestyle (45.45).
Floyd said the Raiders also got numbers from inconspicuous places.
Divers Wes Hampel, Carter Young and Eli Evans contributed nine points – significant because Highlands had no divers – and Lucas Dilger joined Pleiman, Nash Parsons and Knopf to finish third in the 200 freestyle relay (1:24.93).
Knopf said he was “a little disappointed” with the 200 freestyle.
“I’m not rested for the meet,” Knopf said. “I was a little tired at the end.”
Highlands was strong in relays. Luke Deegan (backstroke), Griffin Barlow (breaststroke), Noah Gracey (butterfly) and Chanith Abeysinghe (freestyle) took third in the 200 medley.
Barlow also finished second in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 500 freestyle.
When Ryle won the Combined title last year, Floyd didn’t think he’d be tossed in the pool, so he didn’t bring extra threads. Saturday, he knew what awaited him – he slipped off his sandals and took another dip courtesy of Pleiman and Knopf.
Floyd was better prepared Saturday.
“You’re only going to throw me in if we win,” Floyd said. “I brought clothes this time.”
Reinhart leads local divers
Simon Kenton junior Isaiah Reinhart had fun.
Reinhart was third in the 1-meter diving. His 469.55 points were 80.1 behind state champion Gerald Leslie of Lexington Catholic and 27.95 behind Jonah Kearns of Henry Clay.
Saturday was Reinhart’s first time among the top eight. He enjoys camaraderie with teammates and competitors the most.
“Just the social aspect, hanging out with friends the whole time,” Reinhart said.
Reinhart is also a member of Queen City Dive Club in Cincinnati. He said college coaches care more about USA Diving results than high school.
“Getting third place at state is pretty cool, too,” Reinhart said.
Joey Svatba coaches Kenton County divers, including Reinhart. He said Reinhart contributes much more in practice.
“When he comes to practice and brings all the energy in the world, he keeps all the other kids uplifted,” Svatba said.
Reinhart’s strategy was to save the hardest dives for the end, and it’s what he did Saturday. His 10th dive, a Reverse 1 ½ Somersault Tuck, earned him 45.15, and the finale, an Inward 2 Somersault Tuck, was good for another 49.
“Usually I try to put all the hard dives toward the end when I’m warmed up and used to the boards,” Reinhart said.
Baker’s resiliency
St. Henry senior diver Sam Baker finished sixth with 394 points, and Covington Catholic’s John O’Connor was eighth with 376.
Saturday was Baker’s second consecutive top eight finish. (He finished seventh last year.)
If there’s anyone more grateful than Baker, you’d think the list is minuscule. Two years ago, he was in an all-terrain vehicle accident.
“I was in an ATV accident and almost got decapitated, and so I had to cut my high school season short, unfortunately,” Baker said. “I didn’t even know if I’d be able to dive again because of the neck injury.
“But I was resilient, and I pulled through.”
Baker said the accident creeps into his mind two years later.
“I always think about the worst thing that can happen sometimes,” he said. “I’m very pessimistic when it comes to diving, which is very unusual for me ‘cause I feel like I’m a pretty optimistic person. This whole week I’ve been super-anxious about what could go wrong; my friends saw me visibly shaking at school this whole week, and I almost made myself sick before I left (Saturday) morning for the meet.”
Technically, O’Connor is not a CovCath student because he’s a seventh-grader at Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell.
“It feels good,” O’Connor said of his finish. “A lot of my friends congratulate me.”
Baker plans to attend Centre College. He said it’s still hard to “get past that mental block” memories of the accident caused.
“But I have a great club team, great friends, great family members,” Baker said. “And I’m so happy that I have such a supportive community.”
Colonels celebrate 50th anniversary
Members of Dixie Heights’ 1975 boys swimming team are in their late ‘60s, but Saturday they celebrated what they did 50 years ago when they won the team title. The Colonels followed that up with runner-up finishes in 1976 and ‘77.
“We are still the only state (team) champion in that school’s history,” 1975 alumnus Doug Brownfield said.
Fellow ‘75 graduate Bill Gradel added: “A lot of us are still attached to the sport.”
For complete results visit khsaa.org. (bit.ly/4gZtbh8)