Wenatchee High School’s girls swimmers not only finished an undefeated season in league and placed second at State, but they received several top individual honors as well.

Head Coach James Elwyn got Coach of the Year, senior Rachel Wilt tied for Swimmer of the Year, and sophomore Ali Brandt got Diver of the Year. These awards are unique as they are voted on by all the coaches in the league.

Wilt has been swimming since she was 6 years old, and now swims year-round with a swim team, Velocity, as well as school swimming. This year, she was also one of the three team captains. “Rachel provided our team with leadership through several hardships,” said Elwyn. Wilt described the “hardships” as personal issues on the team.

At State, Wilt swam in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle, placing 13th with a time of 24.94 and 21st with a time of 56.66, respectively. She also was a member of the 200 medley relay, which placed third, and the 200 freestyle relay, which placed fourth.

At Districts, Wilt placed fourth in the 50 freestyle, fifth in the 100 freestyle, and was a swimmer in two winning relays, the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.

Wilt’s goals this year were to make the qualifying times to swim at State, which she achieved. She was happy with how both the District meet and the State meet went as she got her best times at those meets. “They told me I got [the award] for leadership and character,” said Wilt. “It was a good way to go out as a senior.”

Brandt began diving as a freshman as a transition from gymnastics. After her first season, she went to the Indiana University Dive Camp for two weeks to work on her skills, and improved greatly for her sophomore year. At the start of her season, her main goal was to make it to State, which she did on Oct. 18 with a score of 324.85. “[Brandt is] the best diver by far,” said Dive Coach Mitch Thompson. “She has an overall positive vibe, and everyone looks up to her.”

Brandt worked hard in the offseason and the regular season, and her work paid off at the State meet, where she placed fifth with a score of 336.65, just under her score of 339.75 at the District meet. Her scores in the regular diving season improved by about 60 points, an amazing improvement, according to Thompson.

“This award was a little bit easier to choose; I don’t think there was another choice that made sense,” said Elwyn. “Ali’s improvement, her 4.0, and her time and effort made it an easy vote [for the other coaches].”

When asked about his own award, Elwyn was very humble, crediting his team.

“About half of the time, they [the other coaches] vote for the coach with the best team, or the team that has made the most improvement,” said Elwyn. “Our margin of victory is so great, and that’s probably why.”

In the words of sophomore Tori Peterson, their swimming competition was “nonexistent.”

“He’s very supportive, encouraging, and helpful to all the girls both in and out of the pool,” said senior Randi Roberts. “The team wouldn’t have had such a great season without such a great coach.”

“I think he deserved the award,” said sophomore Audrey Parrish. “He has a lot of patience with us; we didn’t always want to get up and run at 6 a.m., or do our drills, but he pushed us to be where we needed to be.”