During the state championships this weekend, Tigard High’s swimming team broke records and won a few races.  

Sophomore Ben Miller led the way for our Tigard team at the district meet, as he won the championship in the boys 100-yard butterfly event with a time of 51.06 seconds, breaking Tigard’s record. Senior Elizabeth Soldwedel qualified for the state meet in four events, and came in fourth in the 50 freestyle in a state-meet with a qualifying time of 24.42 seconds. Sophomore Kaitlyn Wornath also took second place in the 100-yard butterfly race with a time of 58.60 seconds, which also sets a new record for Tigard.

For Kaitlyn Wornath able to push beyond her limits and break the record, gave her one of the most amazing feelings in her life. Many people don’t even come close to the record.

“It felt amazing really. I couldn’t even believe it at first,” Wornath said.

The team is like a close family, behind each other every step of the way.

“The coach has been really supportive the entire time, and my teammates are all very friendly,” Wornath said.

Kaitlyn Wornath has been swimming for around 1l years now. She has been a part of the team ever since her freshman year. Now with a record broken, she plans on continuing that streak with every year. She is focused on improving her technique to better her time.

Sophomore en Miller always enjoys the state competitions, and this one was no exception.

“The boys swim team might not have won all our meets or been placed at the top in all our events, but the 11 of us accomplished great things this season and I’m proud of all of us. I am especially happy with performance in the 100 fly,” Miller said.

Like Wornath, the team has played a major part in motivating him and letting him know that he could succeed at the championship.

“Although swimming is often thought of as an individual sport, we push each other in practice and cheer each other on at meets, so we continue to get better together as team,” Miller said. “For me, there’s nothing like touching the wall at the end of a race and seeing your goal time on the scoreboard; that’s what makes it all worth it.”

Senior Soldwedel had a shoulder injury, but still did her best in all her raced. Before, she had practiced thirty hours each week, all year long, as she in club swimming. Her hard work did pay off.    

“I was really excited to get fourth in state with the rough season I had,” Soldwedel said. “Watching olympic swimming videos really motivated me to get better.”

“Our team has gotten a lot better over the past season. We all have dropped a lot of time by working hard and doing our best in races,” Soldwedel said.

In order to dominate in competitions, sometimes they have to swim up to four hours a day, six days a week. They have practices in the morning and in the afternoon. During the practice, they work on all the different strokes and improve their techniques.
In the end, our Tigard girls finished in third place in the team standings at the district meet with 228 points, and our Tigard boys finished in eighth place with 151 points. As the year wraps up, the team feels successful with their record-breaking year and look forward to smashing even more next year.