The boys swim and dive team competed in and hosted the Forest Hills Invitational this weekend. The combined team of Forest Hills Central, Eastern, and Northern came out victorious against many other schools. The swimmers knew the meet wasn’t going to be easy, but with hard work and focus the team was able to win with an astounding 640 points.

“Each meet is built on the previous meet experience, so by this time of the year the team has set some personal and team goals,” head coach Dennis Neat said. “We then work on achieving these goals at all meets. All of this goal-setting and team success is important as we work towards the end of the season Championship Meet.”

The meets before winter break helped focus the swimmers and divers on solely doing their best. But the two-a-day practices during winter break really helped them improve technique and skill for the Invitationals.

“The team is very confident right now, especially [with] how well we have performed at some of our previous meets and especially the meet we went to during the holiday break [Zealand invite],” Neat said. “We’re performing at or near personal best times or diving scores.”

The senior leadership helped inspire the newcomers to swim this Saturday and were key to this team win.

“The leadership from the seniors pushes me to prove to them that I can swim up to what they expect me to do,” freshman Avery Letourneau said.

This is Avery’s sixth year swimming competitively, but it is his first year being on the high school team and swimming with the upperclassmen. Avery swam in the 200 and 400-yard Freestyle relays, placing fifth in the 200-yard Freestyle relay and fourth in the 400-yard Freestyle relay. He also swam the 100 and 200-yard Freestyle, placing sixth in both. He is very proud of how he has been swimming so far.

Avery isn’t the only person who had placed on Saturday, as senior Matt Wilson had a spectacular night as well. He swam the 100-yard Butterfly and the 500-yard Freestyle, both not being his forte. Despite this challenge, he still placed fourth in the 100-yard Butterfly and second in the 500-yard Freestyle.

“I was very fatigued with all my races coming off of winter training,” Matt said. “I feel, after Invitationals, closer to the team and I also learned a few things about racing and preparations for my races. It feels good to win my last Invitational with the team and help the newer swimmers improve.”

Invitationals have helped prepare the team for their next dual meet against Northview on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at home.

“Winning invitationals or at least having success at these types of meets shows the value of the importance of [the] team,” Neat said. “The daily work, the support, and effort all are important factors in making the team better.”