The David Hallman III Aquatics Center opened on Jan. 18 for the Prep swim team’s first practices in the new facility. Since the opening Cathedral Prep has hosted numerous swim meets in the state-of-the-art facility against Strong Vincent, Central Tech, St. Ignatius, Warren, East, and Mercyhurst. All of those meets were convincing wins for the team. The real challenge came with McDowell’s swim team.
After being rescheduled twice due to issues with the temperature of the pool, Prep and McDowell finally met on Feb. 5 for the second time this season. In their first meeting McDowell took home a win that was decided by a couple very close and contested races.
The Cathedral Prep swim team opened the rematch with a demanding win in the 400 medley relay, won by David Rahner, Austin Hancock, Pat Steele, and Quinn Fischer. Rex Riley and Alec Thomas kept the momentum going winning the next two events, the 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley. McDowell came up with an astonishing comeback right before the diving portion taking first and second in the 50 freestyle.
McDowell kept the comeback tone, taking first and second in diving and then winning the 100 butterfly. Rex Riley took a demanding win in the 100 freestyle to quickly change the atmosphere. McDowell fired back winning the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay by 0.03 seconds. In the final three events the dagger in the coffin came from Prep’s own Thomas Uht and David Rahner, who came in first and second in the 100 backstroke. Austin Hancock was able to finalize the win before the last event, winning in the 100 breaststroke. Despite securing the win Tom Squeglia, Tony Squeglia, Alec Thomas, and Rex Riley won the 400 freestyle relay. The Prep swim team finished with a 104-82 win over McDowell.