Swimming

On Dec. 15, 2024, legendary Jesuit swimming & diving head coach Bill Shaffer died unexpectedly, leaving behind a legacy of excellence at the school and tremendous impact on the swimming community.

“Bill’s legacy at Jesuit is in the legions of ‘Men for Others’ who he has helped form through the swimming program,” Jesuit principal and interim president Mike Scicchitano said. “The school is forever grateful for his extraordinary contributions. We are praying for his wife, Liz, the Shaffer family, and all who knew and loved Coach Shaffer.”

Shaffer served for 29 years at Jesuit, and for the past 17 years he also was the swimming head coach for the Academy of the Holy Names. His teams won six State Championships - three at each school - to become the best high school swimming programs in Hillsborough County history.

For the Jesuit website story about Bill Shaffer, click here. For his obituary, click here.

Thank you Coach Bill for everything you did for generations of swimmers and their families! 

Jesuit Swimming & Diving

With three State titles and 10 straight years with Top-4 finishes at State entering the fall 2024 season, the Tigers stand alone as the best boys swimming program in Tampa Bay area history. Under the direction of head coach Bill Shaffer since 1996 (Shaffer also coaches the Academy of the Holy Names girls swimming team), the Tigers have been one of Florida's elite programs for decades, producing numerous All-County, State Champion, and collegiate swimmers while accumulating an incredible dual meet record of 209-7-1. The Tigers were State runners-up in 2014 and '15 before winning the 2017, '18, and '20 State crowns. Entering 2024, Jesuit has claimed a remarkable 27 straight District titles, 15 consecutive Region crowns, and numerous City Relays titles, including once again in 2023.

The success has been spurred by a series of outstanding swimmers and great performances. In 2023 at State, Jesuit placed 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the relays, while Aidan Clements '24 (Auburn signee) swam a school -record 200 freestyle in an All-American time two years after he had won the State title in the 100 backstroke. The top returnees in 2024 include Bruno Borowiec '26 and Henry Neely '26. 

The 2020 season, Jesuit's 3rd State title, was arguably the school's best ever. The Tigers were unblemished, sweeping all of their dual meets plus the Tampa Bay Classic and District-Region-State. At State, two relays won gold: the 200 medley (Nick Shaffer '21, Liam Schindler '23, Erick Magalhaes '23, and Sam Prabhakaran '21) in school-record time, and the 200 freestyle (Prabhakaran, Geoff Trieloff '21, Schindler, and Shaffer). Shaffer (who signed with Florida Atlantic) also claimed individual gold in the 200 IM in school-record time and placed third in the 100 backstroke.

When the Tigers began their run of State titles in 2017, they were propelled to the 2A crown with silver medal results in three relays and Brendan Driscoll '19 claiming an individual State title in the 500 freestyle. Driscoll also earned the prestigious Hicks Award as the county's Outstanding Swimmer. In 2018 the Tigers repeated as State Champions, earning 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the pivotal relays, while Driscoll repeated as State Champion in the 500 free and Jesuit won the State title again. 

Several Tigers have continued their swimming careers in college, including Schindler (Loyola Maryland), Nick Shaffer (Florida Atlantic), Driscoll (Duke University), Tommy Shaffer '16 (Army West Point), Byrne Litschgi '16 (University of Chicago, where he set numerous school records and won the NCAA DIII National Championship in the 200 backstroke), Austin Sellers '15 (University of North Carolina), and Chris Swanson '12 (University of Pennsylvania), who became the first-ever collegiate National Champion at Penn, winning the 1,650 freestyle NCAA DI crown.
 

COACH BILL SHAFFER AT JESUIT

Year-by-Year

INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONS

JESUIT SWIMMING & DIVING

• Peter Montero ’69
o 1969 – Class A - Diving (396.00)

• Kris Wiebeck ’01
o 1999 – Class 2A - 100 back (51.32)

• Tommy Wyher ’07
o 2003 – Class 1A - 100 back (52.51)
o 2004 – Class 1A - 100 back (50.83)
o 2004 – Class 1A - 100 fly (50.63)
o 2005 – Class 1A - 100 back (49.65)
o 2005 – Class 1A - 100 fly (48.35)
o 2006 – Class 1A - 100 back (49.93)
o 2006 – Class 1A - 100 fly (48.13)

• Austin Sellers ’15
o 2014 – Class 2A - 100 breast (55.59)

• Tommy Shaffer ’16
o 2015 – Class 2A - 100 free (46.42)

• Byrne Litschgi ’16, Will Sands ’17, Sam Sands ’18, Tommy Shaffer ’16
o 2015 – Class 2A - 200 Free Relay (1:26.37)

• Byrne Litschgi ’16, Chris Jennings ’18, Matthew Dieffenthaller, Tommy Shaffer ’16
o 2015 – Class 2A - 200 Medley Relay (1:36.01)

• Chris Jennings ’18, Stephen Dawes ’17, Will Sands ’17, Sam Sands ’18
o 2016 – Class 2A - 200 Free Relay (1:26.61)

• Brendan Driscoll ’19
o 2017 – Class 2A - 500 free (4:29.50)
o 2018 – Class 2A - 500 free (4:32.29)

• Nick Shaffer ’21, Anthony Kirchner ’20, Robbie Shaffer ’19, Alex Caceres ’19
o 2018 – Class 2A - 200 Medley Relay (1:36.91)

• Nick Shaffer ’21
o 2020 – Class 2A - 200 IM (1:50.83)

• Nick Shaffer ’21, Liam Schindler ’23, Erick Magalhaes ’23, Sam Prabhakaran ’21
o 2020 – Class 2A - 200 Medley Relay (1:35.82)

• Sam Prabhakaran ’21, Geoffery Trieloff ’21, Liam Schindler ’23, Nick Shaffer ’21
o 2020 – Class 2A - 400 Free Relay (3:10.22)

• Aidan Clements '24 
o 2021 – Class 2A - 100 Backstroke 

• Aidan Clements '24, Liam Schindler '23,  Erick Magalhaes '23, Sasha Fiola '23
o 2021 – Class 2A - 200 Medley Relay

• Aidan Clements '24, Jordan Jansen '23,  Brayden Hohman '23, Liam Schindler '23 
o 2021 – Class 2A - 400 Freestyle Relay

• Liam Schindler '23, Erick Magalhaes '23, Sasha Fiola '23, Jordan Jansen '23
o 2022 – Class 2A - 200 Freestyle Relay

JESUIT SWIMMING RECORDS

 EVENT                       SWIMMER                      YEAR        TIME                                  

200 Medley Relay                                               2022        1:34.24
(Aidan Clements '24, Liam Schindler '24, Erick Magalhaes '23, Brayden Hohman '23)
200 Freestyle          Aidan Clements '24      2023       1:39.09
200 IM                        Nick Shaffer '21             2020       1:50.83
50 Freestyle            Tommy Wyher '07         2006       20.87
Diving                        Timmy Hyer '01             2000       458.90
100 Butterfly          Tommy Wyher '07         2006       48.13
100 Freestyle         Tommy Wyher '07         2006       45.52
500 Freestyle          Vinny Donnelly '09        2008       4:27.70
200 Freestyle Relay                                           2006       1:24.78
(Tommy Wyher '07, Stephen Sheridan '07, Andrew Werdine '08, Sully Lynch '07)
100 Backstroke     Tommy Wyher '07        2005        49.65
100 Breaststroke  Austin Sellers '15          2014        54.90
400 Freestyle Relay                                          2014        3:09.80
(Tommy Shaffer '16, Sam Sands '18, Byrne Litschgi '16, Austin Sellers '15)