By Connor Ludwig ’23
On February 11-12, Wilson High School will hold the Lancaster-Lebanon (LL) League Championships swim meet. The LL League Championship swim meet is where all the best swimmers from around the league come to swim against each other. The Conestoga Valley Boys Swim Team has worked hard to get here as it is a qualifying meet. Connor Ludwig, Ashton Reese, Aidan Campbell, and Daniel Ivanchikov will be the athletes representing C.V.
At the start of the season, everyone’s goal is to improve and set fast times, and win meets to qualify for Leagues. Unfortunately for the CV boys, they started off the season slowly with a blowout loss to Manheim Township. However, the boys’ team did not let this drag them down for long, upsetting Cedar Crest in a nail biter 82-81 win at the next meet. When questioned for comments, C.V freshman Rome Lucchese said, “I thought it was going to be a long season, but we turned it around.”
They used this newly found momentum and got an early Christmas present, taking down the Penn Manor team in a 97-43 win on December 23rd. The team sat 2-1 with momentum as they took their holiday break, which proved to stall their momentum. They came out sputtering with a loss to Ephrata. Shortly thereafter, a brief rally meant they would win the following two meets against Manheim Central and McCaskey. CV would then lose a heartbreaker to Cocalico on Senior Night, and two days later be crushed by Elizabethtown. They were sitting at .500 with two regular season meets left and looking to have a winning record for the first time in 3 years. Next up was Catholic and the boys were ready. They crushed Catholic 105-44 and spoiled their senior night, to go to 5-4 with one meet left.
Many swimmers start preparing weeks in advance for a big meet. This is no different for the CV boys team, as they have already begun preparations for the big day. When questioned, sophomore Aidan Campbell stated, “Personally I’m trying to work on my legs more at practice, but basic health things as well like drinking more water,”
For all sports it is important to drink water and eat food. However, for swimming, it is especially important as swimmers burn a substantial number of calories. The consequences of improper nourishment were on display at the Elizabethtown swim meet when C.V junior Connor Ludwig experienced chest pains. Further examination revealed it was due to him burning an number of calories far in excess of what he was ingesting.
With so much on your mind, it is normal to experience nervousness when arriving at the Championships Meet. However, for the CV boys’ team, nervousness has been replaced with excitement. Campbell commented, “I’m excited for leagues. We’re not the biggest team, but we have good swimmers so I think we will do well!” The team is itching for the chance to compete amongst the fastest swimmers in the Leagues.
Cheer on the CV Swim Team in their LL League Championship Swim Meet on Friday, February 11th and Saturday, February 12th at Wilson High School.