Swimming Wins 25th Straight District Crown

Some things in life are 100% certain, such as death, taxes, and Jesuit swimming winning the District title.

Yes, for a quarter of a century the Jesuit swimming and diving team has been that reliable. Saturday at the Academy of the Holy Names, for the 25th consecutive year under head coach Bill Shaffer, the Tigers secured the District crown. They easily outpaced the eight other schools in the District as they continued their pursuit of a fourth State Championship in the past five years.

(Pictured on the homepage are the six seniors on the Jesuit swimming team, L-R Brody Grissom, Ryan Finster, Logan Sorensen, Dominic Rozance, Sean Kenny, and Ezra Moros.)

Jesuit scored 696 total points, 448 more than second-place Hillsborough (248). More impressively, the Tigers claimed the District title in every event, and qualified every swimmer for the Region meet along the way.

Leading the team Saturday with two individual District titles were Aidan Clements ’24 (200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke) and Liam Schindler ’23 (200 IM, 100 Breaststroke). Also claiming individual crowns were Erick Magalhaes ’23 (50 Free), Liam Maloney ’24 (100 Butterfly), Brayden Hohman ’23 (100 Free), Ryan Finster ’22 (500 Free), and Logan Lange ’23 (Diving).

Jesuit also won the 200 Medley Relay (Clements, Schindler, Magalhaes, Hohman), 200 Free Relay (Magalhaes, Sean Kenny ’22, Ezra Moros ’22, Jordan Jansen ’23), and the 400 Free Relay (Jansen, Hohman, Clements, Schindler).

Next up for the Tigers is the Region Meet at the North Shore Aquatic Complex in St. Petersburg on Thursday (Nov. 4) at 9:00am, where they will try for their 13th straight Region title. The State Meet is Nov. 13 in Stuart.

On Sunday (Oct. 31), the day after the District Meet, the team raised awareness and funds for two very noble causes: The CailinStrong Foundation and Win4JimKelly. The Jesuit swimmers sought donations/sponsorships by “Clipping for Cailin and Kelly,” as they shaved their heads on Sunday to support these foundations, raising $9,343! The team shaves its heads annually at this time of year as a sign of unity before competing in the Region and State competitions. 

The CailinStrong Foundation was created in honor of Cailin Cannella, with its purpose to create awareness and support research for treatments/cures for pediatric cancer, specifically osteosarcoma. Cannella was a star swimmer for the Academy of the Holy Names who lost her battle with osteosarcoma in September 2017, when she was in 8th grade. Win4JimKelly was created to directly impact the treatment of longtime Carrollwood Village Swim Team coach Jim Kelly, who is battling a rare form of cancer, neuroendocrine insulinoma.

See below photos from Saturday's District Meet.