The Tide hope to give him a nice send off.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better coach,” Sill said. “We definitely wouldn’t have gotten to where we are as a team without him.”
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BELOIT — “Teamwork makes the dream work” isn’t just a saying for the Beloit Memorial boys swimming team, it’s a way of life.
And it is exactly that “all for one and one for all” mentality that helped the Purple Tide advance two of their relays to the WIAA Division 1 State Swimming & Diving Championships along with junior Aidan Donovan and freshman diver Cody Burnett as individuals.
The meet will be held Friday and Saturday at Waukesha South High School in Waukesha.
That bond has helped the Purple Tide see a lot of success with their relay teams this season, and Saturday was no different.
The 200 free relay of sophomore Charlie Ziemba, senior Ben Sill, junior Sean Goodspeed and Donovan won with a time of 1:28.97.
The 400 free relay of Ziemba, sophomore Aidan Greenlee, senior Kai Wong and Donovan won in 3:16.59.
Both groups will now have the chance to show off their skills at the state meet in Waukesha.
“As single people, we didn’t have a chance of winning almost any of the meets this season,” Sill said. “But together as a team, we won almost all of them. It’s awesome because individually, none of us are amazing, but together we’re a really strong team.”
Ziemba added that the squad’s competitiveness really helps them push to always be better.
“We have a couple of relays that have really close times with other teams,” he said. “And it gets us really excited to see that improvement every time we race them.”
After breaking the school record time in the 200 free relay on Saturday, the group now has its eyes set on the record in the 400 free.
“We are 1.5 seconds off,” Donovan said. “And we can definitely get that done with Wong and Greenlee both being fresh and Ziemba only having one event to do before it.”
Wong said that it was important to “trust the process” throughout the season to become successful at sectionals.
“We have two-a-day practices four or five times a week,” he said. “We’re sore everyday. But when you hit taper (when a swimmer lightens training in anticipation of a big event), your body is rested. You’re able to be calm when it really counts.”
Greenlee said facing such stout competition helps make the squad even better.
“When we go against the tougher Madison schools,” he said. “It really gives us a boost of energy and confidence when we come into the relays, making us improve every time.”
Donovan will be quite busy in Waukesha as, in addition to his role on the two relays, he will be competing in the 100 free after finishing second in Racine (48.18).
“Aidan is very intense once practice starts,” Vogel said. “He’s got that killer instinct on the anchor. In that 200 relay, him and the kid from Racine Case hit the water at the same time, split a 20.95. He’s the first high school swimmer in Beloit to break 21 seconds.”
“My real goal during that race was to simply just beat Ziemba,” Donovan said. “And in doing so, that got me a time to go to state. It means a lot to me, probably one of the proudest things I’ve done.”
Burnett is the first diver to go to state from Beloit Memorial since 1927 after finishing runnerup with 333.25 points.
Vogel said he saw Burnett at the pool during the summer on the boards and asked his parents if he’d be interested in diving for the team.
“He has pretty good self-awareness in space,” Vogel said. “So, never diving before November and to accomplish what he did this year says a whole lot. You could tell each meet that he was getting better and better because the score would keep jumping up.”
“A long time ago, I did gymnastics-like classes,” Burnett said. “I’ve been doing this kind of stuff forever. So, I just go out there and do my thing.”
With Vogel taking a step back from the program after this season, this weekend will be his last meet as head coach.
“It's cool that with Vogel leaving, all of our coaches will have been coached by Vogel,” Goodspeed said.
The Tide hope to give him a nice send off.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better coach,” Sill said. “We definitely wouldn’t have gotten to where we are as a team without him.”