St. X has the opportunity to compete at the highest level in various sports. Some of those opportunities call for the sports teams to travel to various places. The swim team traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the annual McCallie Invitational. This meet has some of the best swimmers in the south.

The Tiger Sharks took a select group of swimmers and divers to compete at the meet. With the opportunity for another national championship this season, it was imperative for swimmers to compete against swimmers from other states. The McCallie invite is a great opportunity for the swim team to step up against the competition from various states. Senior captain Johnny Crush enjoyed the hype and opportunities this meet had to offer.

“McCallie is the second to state as the most hype meet of the year,” Crush said. “It’s so fun to watch the whole team ‘get up and go’. The travel aspect is one of the things that I think excite people. Traveling to a different state and competing in a different pool flips a switch inside our heads that makes us more excited and more ready than other meets.”

Senior captain John Owen saw this meet as more than an opportunity to swim fast. The team was able to build relationships and work together to achieve common goals in the water.

“It’s always fun to get to go on travel meets and spend a lot of time with your teammates,” Owen said. “I think one of the most important parts of building relationships with teammates is being able to have those experiences outside of direct competition or practice, so it was really helpful to be able to eat meals, talk, relax at the pool with them and hangout outside of swimming. Of course, we are there to compete and that is absolutely another big part of building the relationship with your teammates, knowing that everyone is there for the same reason and everyone wants you to succeed individually and as a team builds that sense of brotherhood that everyone loves so much.”

Senior captain Noah Benton enjoyed the support from his teammates throughout the course of the meet. The finals session in the evening was full of personal best times and various pool records broken.

“My favorite part of the meet would definitely be finals at night,” Benton said. “The energy was electric and everyone was cheering super loud. I qualified for finals in both of my individual events, and it was just a really cool experience to be standing behind the block before a race and seeing all your teammates ready to cheer you on from the other side of the pool. I think our team does a fantastic job supporting others, and this meet showed that.”

Whether it was building relationships or breaking records, the swim team had a successful trip to Chattanooga for the McCallie Invitational.