On Saturday, Jan. 19, the North Forsyth swim team went up against swim teams from all across the county in the Forsyth County Championship. The swim meet was held at the Cumming Aquatic Center, where the Raiders placed fifth with 673 total points and set four school records and one county record.

The championship was split up into two events: the pre-swim and the finals. The pre-swim contained twenty-four events in which the swimmers would compete, based on their ability to perform the backstroke, freestyle and butterfly strokes. Swimmers, who stood anxiously by waiting for their turn to compete, cheered on their fellow teammates to swim faster.  Judges were lined across the side of the pool, watching the swimmers closely to determine which swimmers would move on the finals. While all teams could compete in the pre-swim, only a select few of the best swimmers including some of North’s swimmers would swim in the finals. The pre-swim went from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the finals took place later in the day.

Junior Madison Winship swam in the 16th event’s heat in the pre-swim, where she beat competitors as well as shortening her personal best time. She expressed pure excitement afterward for accomplishment of the freestyle.

Other Raiders worth noting include Raiders Alex Gonzalez, Hunter Galbraith, Logan Cornelison and Will Riley, who all did exceptionally well in the medley play relay, a combination of four different swim styles; in addition, the Lady Raiders Taryn Mahoney, Maryann Story, Ainsley Triche and Hailey Galbraith did an amazing job at swimming in the girls’ freestyle. Hailey Galbraith not only managed to win first place in freestyle, but she also beat the school and countywide records for the butterfly stroke. Nate Debruyn beat a school record as well, for diving.

While the team may have not gotten first place overall, there were a number of swimmers who did a fantastic job individually. Alex Gonzalez and Hailey Galbraith were county individual champions for our school. Hopefully, the swim team will swim their way to success next year!