The Maverick swim team reached huge success at the District 13-6A meet Jan. 23-24 at the UT Swim Center. Multiple swimmers advanced to the regional meet and earned medals, while three school records and a world record were broken.

“The McNeil Swimming and Diving team represented themselves, their school, family and community in fine fashion,” coach Johnny Foss said. “It was a proud moment for this coach.”

Below are the names of the students who placed in the top six of their event, allowing them to advance to the Regional IV Championship Feb. 7:

Alex Shamblin – sixth, 200 freestyle; fifth, 500 freestyle

Cara Chin – sixth, 100 butterfly

Mackenzie Glava – sixth, 100 breaststroke

Nick Shomper – fifth, 500 freestyle; fourth, 200 freestyle

Azea Gluff – fifth, 100 backstroke

Claude Gibbs – fifth, 100 breaststroke

Christine Gozdalski – fourth, 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle (tie)

Kaitlyn Freeman – fourth, 100 freestyle (tied her teammate)

Alix Gavin – fourth, 100 breaststroke; fourth, 500 freestyle

Ashleigh Thompson – fourth, 100 backstroke

Shomper, Gibbs, Guan Ma, Daniel Sim – fourth, Boys Medley Relay

The following students earned medals at the meet and will advance to the the Regional Championship:

Nicole Bogusch – second, one meter diving

Kate Shomper – third, 200 Individual Medley

Kaitlyn Freeman – third, 50 freestyle

Ada Forbes – third, 500 freestyle

Gozdalski, Glava, Chin, Ashleigh Thompson – second, Girls Medley Relay

Chin – second, 50 freestyle

Thompson – second, 100 freestyle

Josh Harris – second, 100 freestyle

Chin, Freeman, Sarah Sullivan, Glava – second,Girls 200 freestyle Relay

Freeman, Thompson, Kate Shomper, Gozdalski – second, Girls 400 freestyle Relay

Ross Sullivan, Nick Shomper,Josh Sullivan, Harris – second, Boys 400 freestyle Relay (school record)

The following can now call themselves a District Champions

Kate Shomper – 500 freestyle

Harris – 100 breaststroke

Ross Sullivan, Sim, Josh Sullivan, Harris – Boys 200 freestyle Relay

Ross Sullivan – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle (both school records)

Also, the entire girls team can now call themselves District Champions since they earned their third straight Team Title at the District level. The boys team took third.

Along with a huge part of the team advancing to regionals, junior Alix Gavin set a new world record for deaf swimming in the 100 breaststroke. Gavin beat the old record by 18-hundredths of a second.

“When I swam during district, my goal was to just drop time and to go faster in my 500 free and the 100 breaststroke,” Gavin said. “When I went to my mother who was a stroke judge for the meet, she said that I had indeed gotten the record. She was on the verge of tears when she announced it. And then I was psyched.”

“I am so proud of our teams’ performance,” Foss said. “And we will try and do it all over again at one of the fastest meets in the country – the Region IV Championship.”