The Fountain Hills High School swim program continued to wade in the right direction in its second season, producing a couple placing swimmers at state, but also setting a solid foundation for the future with a large amount of freshmen swimmers.

The aquatic Falcons’ season started in the first week of September with a quad meet against Chandler Prep, Seton Catholic and Coronado. The young program was able to best Coronado and place third overall in the meet.

“That meet the team had many personal bests, along with first swims for many of our athletes,” head coach Patti Schultz said about the start of the season.

The next few weeks saw the Falcons compete in multiple meets a week, one of which was Schultz’s favorite of the season.

“My favorite memory of the season was going to NAU and swimming in the beautiful indoor facility,” Schultz said. “It was a great starting point where our swimmers bonded and were a part of a championship-level meet. I feel like it brought our swimmers closer and helped them establish goals for the season.”

Schultz said she believes that her swimmers, especially the younger ones, made vast progress on those goals.

“The FHHS swim team was full of growth this year. We had a lot of new swimmers in as freshman and they all had incredible gains in their knowledge of swimming and performance,” Schultz said. “I look forward to working and growing with them in the next few years.”

On top of all of the new freshmen swimmers on the team this season, there were also a few new senior swimmers.

“My senior swimmers who stepped in to be a part of the team for the first time, Kyle Richardson, Sarah Brown and Will McGuire, added so much to the season,” Schultz said. “They were dedicated and led the team.”

Only two seasons in, the Falcons still had some seasoned vets on the squad.

“Our two-year program swimmer seniors, Madison Payne, Holly Garrett and Scott Sorensen, offered a solid foundation of how our team operates and led the younger swimmers by teaching and guiding them,” Schultz said.

Fountain Hills’ swim season came to an end Nov. 7 and 8 with the state meet. Two Falcons, Connor Reiff and Grace Clark, both qualified for two events in the meet.

Reiff placed ninth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 50 freestyle. Clark competed in the 100 backstroke, placing fifteenth, along with competing in the 100 freestyle, placing fourteenth overall.

“I would say that Reiff had a great senior season, improving his times and creating an environment in practice and meets of striving for excellence,” Schultz said. “Grace Clark had another incredible year of growth and personal records.”

Schultz said she is looking forward to getting back into the pool for next season but is excited to see her swimmers compete in other sports.

“I encourage all my athletes to get involved in other sports at the school,” Schultz explained. “We have swimmers that are playing soccer, wrestling, basketball and volleyball. This will help them prepare for next season. We will be getting together in May and June to work on technique and build endurance for the August start.”