With the Postseason around the corner, The Chagrin Falls Swim Team is ready and prepared. 

The Girl’s and Boy’s Swim teams defeated Perry in a meet on January 10.  Both teams took a commanding win over the Pirates, the boys winning 114-53 and the girls winning 110-72.  

The team continues its successful year, with a 4-2 record going into the final meets of the season. This year came with large changes, as the team lost 17 seniors and had to change their practice location from the Wembley Club to Gilmour. 

“This season our team got moved to swim at Gilmour as one group from 7:45-9:45 pm every night rather than four groups at Wembley mixing from 3:30-7,” said senior swimmer Madi Machado. 

Machado explained that although new and different, this change was very beneficial for the team. 

“It has built such a better and unified team where the top and bottom ends of the teams swim together,” she added.

The team looks to compete in the Chagrin Valley Conference (CVC) meets before they move on to states, and swimmers like Machado are motivated to make a statement.

“CVCs will be a good chance to see some competition – and give an opportunity to get up and race with a common rival Hawken,” Machado continued.

Machado locks in when the postseason tournament begins and narrows down the meets that she competes in. She swims in the 200-yard medley relay, the 100-yard backstroke, the 100-yard breaststroke, and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“I’m feeling really good when it comes to postseason just around the corner, I love getting up and going to race,” she explained

The swimmers on track to qualify for states have been training to make sure they meet the required times and one group is heavily prepared. 

Senior Grace Svette is confident in her event, “As of right now our 200 medley relay with [Svette], Madi Machado, Alexandra Sharpf, and Sarah Mccourt looks good to qualify.” 

Competing in states comes with team chemistry, and the swim team always comes together with yearly traditions and events.

“We make sure to include lots of fun team bonding events throughout the season like team dinners, scavenger hunts, hair bleaching, and chow-ups. We always have a lot of fun getting together and spending time with each other away from the pool,” said Svette. 

 Senior girls bleach the senior boys’ hair, which creates a fun team bonding experience every year. 

“The whole hair bleaching is a great tradition that swimmers across the country partake in. At Chagrin it is the job of the girl’s team to bleach the hair of the boys which is always a chaotic mess that brings everyone together.” Machado said.