Bronco swimmers in the hunt for 23rd consecutive state title
By Josh Galvin ’13
THE ROUNDUP
Varsity swim and dive coach Mr. Pat O’Neill did not beat around the bush.
He said this year’s Brophy swim team is going to do very well.
With three meets under their collective belt, the coach expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance thus far.
“We had a couple surprising swims by a few new swimmers,” Mr. O’Neill said.
He said team members Gabe Espinoza ’13, J.J. Osborne ’14, Tucker Wells ’13 and Lucas Williams ’13 are strong additions to this year’s group.
However, veteran swimmers Chris Webb ’12 and Brian Stevens ’11 who, in Mr. O’Neill’s opinion, are “the best swimmers in the state of Arizona,” remain invaluable assets to the team.
The swim and dive team scored a big win early in the season as they took first and second place out of 35 teams at Chandler Pool Sept. 11 at the Wolve Invitational.
Brophy won with 536 points, while the second place winners came away with 212.
“I think the competition is a lot tougher this year because there are a lot of good freshmen,” Espinoza said. “But our team is very diverse and specialized … we have good swimmers in only one event as well as swimmers that do every event.”
Espinoza took home his first gold medal of the season in the 50-yard free stroke event as well as a silver in the one 100-yard free stroke event at the invitational.
It may still be too early to speculate on the team’s future performance, but Mr. O’Neill plans on winning state championships again this year as well as setting a few state records in the process.
“It’ll be our twenty-third win at state in a row,” Mr. O’Neill said.
