By Benjamin Carter,
The Freedom High boys and girls swim teams has turned the heat up to boiling levels, as 11 athletes qualified for the Class 3A, Region 3 Championships on November 9 at the Class 3A District 7 meet on Oct. 30. The Freedom girls came in second overall in the District, behind Sickles High, while the boy’s team finished third behind King and Hillsborough High.
Senior Marc Berson earned a ticket to Regionals in both of his individual events by taking first place in the District in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:00.58 and the 100 butterfly at 54.13. Berson was also a first place winner in the 200 free relay, alongside teammates Brennan Noll, Logan Freedman and Jordon Shollenberger. Berson, Freedman and Shollenberger also qualified for Regionals with Michael Carter in the 200 medley relay.
Noll earned the title of District Champ in the 200 freestyle with a personal best time of 1:53.67. Shollenberger will compete at Regionals in the 100 breaststroke. According to head coach Rene Piper, the boys team is peaking at the right time and has a shot at qualifying for the State Championships in the 200 free relay.
The Freedom girls are swimming at an equally high level. Morgan Harkness took first in the 200 individual medley at Districts by clocking in at 2:25.25. Harkness also will compete in Regionals in both the 400 free relay and the 200 medley relay, alongside Caitlin Slater, Moira Espinosa, Kaitlyn Shumate, Emma Ernst and Miranda Lippus.
Lippus, a freshman, posted a personal best time of 1:06.74 in the 100 backstroke, to qualify for Regionals in the event.
The team’s major victories, including an outstanding win over New Tampa rival Paul R. Wharton High in Freedom’s ‘Senior Day” and final home dual meet of the season earlier in October, held at the West Meadows Community Center pool.
Piper has made outstanding strides with the team in her first year as head coach and she is dedicated to the proper training of young athletes.
The Region 3A-3 meet will be held on November 9, or the day you receive this publication, at the St. Petersburg Aquatic Center. Look for results of that meet at NT NeighborhoodNews.com.
A Formula For Success
Piper says that next year’s girls’ team will have plenty of talent to continue as a dominant force in the District.
She admits, however, that the Freedom boys will have a more difficult time remaining contenders in 2014. The Freedom girls are only graduating two seniors this year, while the Patriot boys are graduating 10. Piper remains optimistic despite the serious issue of replacing key personnel.
She explained that of the 10 senior boys, seven started swimming when they were juniors. When she took over the program in December 2012, many of the boys struggled with slow times and improper technique. Since then, the boys have shown dramatic improvement, as evidenced by their performance in the District meet.
The Freedom coach remains active in her swimmers’ lives outside of school as well. Many of the Pats’ swimmers train year-round with the Tampa Bay Aquatics (TBAY) team. Piper and her husband and fellow coach, Patrick Piper, took over the running of the New Tampa and New Port Richey branches of TBAY, which is a competitive, year-round swimming program that is open to swimmers ages 4-18, at the beginning of the year.
“From January of this year, we (TBAY) went from 11 swimmers to over 100 in October,” Patrick said.
Through their work with TBAY, the Pipers hope that young talent from across New Tampa and Wesley Chapel will feed into Freedom’s swim program. Rene explains that starting early is the key to the Patriots’ success in the future.
“(TBAY) has to be a feeder program,” she said. “Starting them young with lessons and getting them interested… making it fun [and] keeping them in the sport without them burning out.”
Beyond School & Into The Community
Piper says the success she and her athletes enjoy in the pool would be impossible without the support of local business owners and the community. The practice facility for both TBAY and the Patriots (at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) is too shallow for swim meets, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association, so the team has to raise money to rent the West Meadows pool for its home meets because it is the only local pool with proper starting blocks and because the team receives no financial support from the school.
Patrick and Rene emphasize their gratitude for the support the Freedom team has received from the community. The Pipers are as committed to promoting their contributing businesses and giving back however they can as they are to improving their team’s performance in the water.
To sponsor of the Freedom High Swim Team, contact Coach Rene Piper at coachpiper@yahoo. com. For more information about TBAY, visit TampaBayAquatics.com.
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