After sitting on a bus for about half an hour, swimmers scramble into the pool area filled with dozens of people. The long journey, figuratively and literally, has brought them to what they have been preparing all season for: MACs.
In about two weeks, four FHS swimmers (so far) will make the trek to Moon High School to compete at the MAC Tournament. Many of you might be asking, “what is MACs?” It stands for Mid-Atlantic Conference, and it’s a regional competition for swimmers who make specific times in meets to go against others who have also made times for their event(s). This competition occurs annually, and this year it will be held on Feb. 15.
“The two events that I’m in are the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, both of which I qualified for after the first meet,” Senior Sam Schweinsberg said. “I’m excited for [MACs]. That’s a milestone marker I already passed; the next one is WPIALs.”
There are four basic strokes for swimming: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. These strokes, combined with different lengths and into various medleys, create 11 events at each swim meet, not including diving. Since swimmers are split into boys’ and girls’ teams, this creates a total of 22 events at each meet. Some events, like the 50-yard freestyle, are individual races, while others are relays designed for four people to finish a race.
Like regular meets, these events also appear at MACs. The difference with MACs is that the swimmers aren’t competing to score points at the meet; they’re competing to be the fastest swimmers in the region and to continue on to WPIALs.
“[MACs is] what it’s all about. The long hard days in the pool, the gruesome workouts, the countless hours put in. That’s the journey that they all must take,” Head Coach Bill Layton said. “There are no shortcuts in this sport. There’s nowhere to hide in the pool.”
Senior Jon Bittner qualified for MACs at the beginning of the month during the team’s meet on Jan. 2 against West Allegheny.
“I qualified for the 50-yard freestyle; that’s the shortest event,” Bittner said. “When you qualify, you’re happy, but you’re also really tired because you just swam really fast. So, you’re excited and exhausted at the same time.”
On Jan. 16, Senior Lauren Dubovi also made her MAC time by swimming a 29:70 in the 50-yard freestyle. Senior Tristan Cumberledge and Junior Heather Gazda also made their best times with a 37:38 and a 37:45 in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively.
According to Coach Layton, these times weren’t the best parts. “The highlight of the evening was when [Senior] Casum Matlick entered the water with sheer determination,” Layton said. “[In] the boys’ 100-yard freestyle, he swam a 54:16 which qualifies him for MACs and [he will also] represent Freedom High School at the WPIAL Championship at the University of Pittsburgh. Let’s have the whole school give him congratulations!”
The next swim meet is on Feb. 13 at Quaker Valley, where Coach Layton hopes more swimmers will be qualifying to swim again two days later at MACs.
“I want the whole school to know that these swimmers have worked tirelessly through their practices, and their head coach has been in the water with them to get them to be faster,” Layton said. “I am so very proud of these young swimmers; I could just explode with joy!”