Charlie Belford’22 sprints to beat competition. (Julia DeVore’22/Media)

After a first-place victory the previous week, the Columbus Academy boys swim team looked to continue its momentum with the Northeast Classic on Saturday, January 11, a home meet on Friday, January 17 and an away meet at the St. Charles Natatorium on Saturday, January 18.

The AquaVikes first traveled to Canton, Ohio, for the Northeast Classic, facing tough competition including North Canton Hoover and Dublin Jerome. The Vikes performed well in the preliminary meet but struggled to snag a spot in the finals. 

Back in Columbus, the Vikes floundered to a third-place finish in the home dual meet against St. Charles and Olentangy Liberty. Senior James Cao persisted to secure a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard individual race along with the 100-yard butterfly. In the 200 free, freshman Luke Boltz placed fifth with a final time of 2:01.80. 

The next day, the AquaVikes competed against six other teams, redeeming themselves with a third-place finish and a total of 264 points. Cao took the gold in the 50-yard freestyle, while freshman Alek Balaloski surged to third place in the 100-yard freestyle. To finish the individual races, Cao secured another victory in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing with a total time of 58:28

Relays also did not disappoint, as sophomore Cyrus Richardson, junior Rowan Hennessy, senior Ezra Johnson, and Balaloski clenched the 200-yard freestyle relay title. To finish, Cao, Hennessy, Boltz, and freshman Gavin Lewis secured a second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 

Columbus Academy hosts Bishop Watterson on Tuesday, January 21, before the MSL meet on Saturday, January 25.