The Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Meet (MISCA) is about to begin, water splashing, the roar of excited chatter bounces off the high ceilings, banners representing the different schools hung proudly all around, and every inch of the natatorium is electric.
The high school’s varsity boys swim team swam at the MISCA meet at Calvin University. This swim meet is an event where swimmers can compete in selected events in which they qualify. The MISCA swim meet was an event for our high school swim team to provide both challenges and opportunities for growth. The talented swimmers who swam in the meet were seniors Beau Holmes, Rhys Holmes, Jet Troyer, Lincoln Chalmers, and sophomore Oliver Nibbelink. These swimmers had the opportunity to show the effort and time they have put into swimming since the beginning of the season to face off against tough competition.
Beau Holmes achieved a great result at this swim meet. He ended up placing fourth in school history for the 50 freestyle.
“Every meet I am trying to get closer and closer to the school records, so that was a really big job for me, which was exciting,” Beau Holmes said.
Beau Holmes approaches each meet with a goal in mind, he strives for greatness and improvement.
“My mindset was to just do the best I can. I think that’s my mindset for every meet, but with that mindset, there’s always something for me to work on,” Beau Holmes said.
In addition to Beau Holmes, Rhys Holmes also competed in the MISCA meet. He swam in the 50 freestyle, the 400 freestyle relay, and the 200 freestyle relay. He dropped time in his 50 freestyle by .04 seconds and was overall thrilled with the opportunity that was presented to him.
“I was happy to qualify, so I had fun with it, and did my best,” Rhys Holmes said.
Troyer was yet another swimmer at this meet. He brings a competitive spirit in and out of the pool. He achieved his goals of dropping time in his swims.
“I swam the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay. My goal was to go 22 seconds in the 50,” Troyer said.
Senior Chalmers is another one of the swimmers who qualified for the MISCA meet. His goal was to get the state cut in the 100 breaststroke, which was 1.02, and he got that by about two seconds. Chalmers was glad to have been able to compete at MISCA and was happy to see his hard work from practices and morning workouts pay off.
“Overall, I think I did pretty well, and I got my state cut in my main event, the 100 breast,” Chalmers said.
Northview’s last swimmer who swam at the meet was sophomore Oliver Nibbelink. He swam the 200 medley relay and went 25.26 for the fly laps, and in the 100 fly went 56.12. Nibbelink had a singular mindset of ‘train how you want to perform’ going into the practices before the meet.
“I think just really focusing on putting the work in during practice . . . you just gotta focus on, ‘If I do this in practice, I’m gonna do it in the meet,’” Nibbelink said.
As the MISCA meet came to an end, satisfaction flew over the high school swim team. They achieved personal bests and earned hard-fought victories. Even under all the stress and pressure they faced, all of our swimmers did an amazing job and crushed it in the water. Each swimmer resolved to push their limits further, knowing the season’s best was yet to come.
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