Swim team state champs set new state records

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Seaman boys swim team celebrates after winning state

The Seaman boys swim team made history this season, becoming the very first team in the Topeka area to ever win State.  This astonishing milestone is a result of a multiyear effort, motivated by Coach Rod Garman.  Team captain Logan Stuke spoke on his behalf, “Without Coach we probably wouldn’t have come home with a state title.  He was always pushing us to our limits and kept us focused on the task at hand, taking one step at a time, rather than looking too far into the future.  Coach also believed in us and never doubted what we could accomplish, giving us the confidence that we need to achieve what we set out to do.”

Every member poured their hearts and souls into the team throughout the entire season, practicing for hours every day, but the effort did not stop there.  “Every single one of the guys put in so much work during and before the season; some people for multiple years,” Zeke Metz said.

All of this extra work eventually paid off.  Not only did the Vikings win State, where competition is always fierce, but it was not even close.  Seaman took home the team title with a total of 347 points, a very impressive 150 points ahead of Shawnee Mission East, who finished second.

Perhaps the most magnificent result was toward the end of the meet, when the 400 freestyle relay team of Metz, Josh Florence, Josh Graves and Cameron Stanley finished in 3:11.99 to cut 0.59 seconds off their previous record of 3:12.58.

This team has plenty of motivation to continue Seaman’s success, so it would not be a shock to see the Vikings to show up again next year and execute with just as much effort.  The boys are determined not to let Seaman’s loss of several leaders, including Zeke Metz, Logan Stuke, and Coach Garman’s sons, Janson and Cooper Garman, among many others, hinder their performance.