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Swimming & Diving History

A History of Saint Ignatius Swimming & Diving

By Mr. Eddie Dwyer

In taking a look at some of Saint Ignatius' successful moments in the pool from years past, this corner is going to start with the most recent history, the season of 2015-16, and the promise Head Coach Mike Lehto and his young men established for the future.

From Coach Mike Lehto on last season's performance in the 89th annual Ohio High School Athletic Association Boys Swimming & Diving State Tournament at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio  

Coach Lehto: One of the goals that we set this swim season was to get back on the board at States in Canton. "The board" displays the top 10 teams during the meet. Happy to say we finished on the board, placing seventh overall. We took six guys down to States and they all contributed to the point total.  Five of the guys swam individual events or dove.

Here is a rundown of what the swimmers did.
Joey Libertin - 13th in the 200 free, equaling his best time

Rayon Artis - 8th place in the 50 free, best time
                    - also did his best time leading off the 400 freestyle relay
Dimitri Simcox - 10th place in the 50 free, 6th place in the 100 free
Marcus Hong -   8th place in the 100 fly; best time
                        - 16th place in the 100 back; best time
Alex Claus - 6th place finish in 1M diving, equaling his freshmen year finish

Rayon, Dimitri, Marcus and Cian O'Haimhirgin combined on the 200 and 400 free relay placing 4th in both for season best times.

AT THE DISTRCIT/STATE QUALIFYNG LEVEL LAST WINTER

The Knights of Toledo St. Francis de Sales brought home their 50th district title in school history at the  Division I Northwest District Meet in Bowling Green State University’s Cooper Natatorium.

As was the case in last weekend's Sectional Meet, where the Wildcats' gifted team placed second to St. Edward despite first-place performances in six different events, St. Francis took first place on Saturday without winning an individual title.   

St. Francis' depth brought the Knights 367.5 points and Saint Ignatius was second with 281.5 points.

Here are the Wildcats' state qualifiers and their results from Northwest District Meet, courtesy of Head Coach Mike Lehto.

Alex Claus - 1m diving
Dimitri Simcox - 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay
Rayon Artis - 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay

Marcus Hong - 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay

Joey Libertin - 200 Free, 500 free, 400 Free Relay
Cian O'Haimhirgin - 200 Free Relay

Dimitri Simcox placed first in both the 50 Free and 100 Free as well as being on the first place 200 and 400 Freestyle relays

Marcus Hong was a second place finisher in both the 100 Butterfly and Backstroke events. He was also part of the winning 200 and 400 Free relays.

Joey Libertin was a second place finisher in both the 200 and 500 Freestyle. He was part of the winning 400 free relay.

Rayon Artis placed third in both the 50 and 100 Freestyle. He was part of the winning 200 and 400 Free relays

Cian O'Haimhirgin placed 7th in the 50 Free and 5th in the 100 Free. Swam on the winning 200 Freestyle relay

Alex Claus - 3rd on the 1m diving

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE CORNER GO OUT TO COACH MIKE LEHTO AND ALL OF THE ABOVE OUTSTANDING AND GIFTED YOUNG MEN, AND ALL OF THE BEST THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY AS YOU REPRESENT SAINT IGNATIUS AT THE PRESTIGIOUS OHSAA STATE COMPETITION.

THE SECTIONAL TONE-SETTER

By Eddie Dwyer

This old-timer couldn't sleep before sending out a huge congratulations to Coach Mike Lehto's outstanding swimmers, who had a productive weekend in terms of first-place finishes at the Sectionals, and will now move on to the District Swimming competition on Feb. 20th at Bowling Green State University.

Here is a look at some of the Wildcats' Sectional highlights. St. Edward and Saint Ignatius finished 1-2, respectively.

50 Yard Freestyle: Dimitri Simcox and Rayon Artis went 1-2 in CSU sectional record times of 21.21 and 21.43, respectively.

100 Yard Butterfly: Marcus Hong was second in 50.98 and Matt Galla was 11th in 56.00.

500 Yard Freestyle: Co-Captain Joey Libertin took first place in 4:51.66 and Anthony Fragassi was seventh in 5:09.08.

200 Yard Freestyle: Joey Libertin was second in 1:45.40 and Severyn Kushmeliuk was 10th in 1:53.12.

200 Yard IM: Nicholas Hong was fourth in 2:05.29 and John Hessler was ninth in 2:10.40.

100 Yard Freestyle: Dimitri Simcox was first in a CSU sectional record 46.52, Rayon Artis was second in 48.44 and Cian O'Haimhirgin was third in 48.54.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay:  The team of Joey Libertin, Cian O'Haimhirgin, Severyn Kushmeliuk and Marcus Hong took first place in 3:15.86.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay: The team of Dimitri Simcox, Rayon Artis, Cian O'Haimhirgin, and Severyn Kushmeliuk took first place in 1:27.33.

100 Yard Backstroke: Marcus Hong took first place in 52.06.

100 Yard Breaststroke: Nicholas Hong was fourth in 1:00.53 and John Hessler was sixth in 1:02.70.

The corner wishes to thank Mr. Don Cisar, the Sectional Meet Manager at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium, for keeping us updated on this weekend's results. His tireless work is truly appreciated.

Again, congrats to Coach Lehto and his gifted Wildcats, and all of the best at the District competition this coming weekend.

Yes, as you can see, my friends, the table is set for even more special moments in the winter of  2016-17.

Now here's a corner's view of some of the splashes made in years past.

THE "AQUACATS" of 2000

Behind the leadership of tri-Captains Todd Minnier, Nelson Wagner and Chuck Kalinsky, the "AQUACATS" produced Sectional and District Championships and were the OHSAA State Runners-Up. 

Those accomplishments produced a list of seven new school records that season - the 100 freestyle, butterfly and backstroke, all three relays  and the 500-yard freestyle. 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1995

Saint Ignatius put it in high gear and went on to win its fourth consecutive district championship by overcoming University School, 347-315.

University School held a 170-151 advantage over the Wildcats after the first day of the meet, but Saint Ignatius set the tempo on the second day by going 1-2-3 in the opening event, the 100-yard freestyle.

POSTSEASON PROPS

Saint Ignatius placed two swimmers – Matt Monos (200-yard individual medley) and John Lewis (500-yard freestyle) on The Plain Dealer's 1988 All-Scholastic Swim Team.

HAWN HITS IT

With his 2:01.63 performance in the 200-yard individual medley, Saint Ignatius' Tom Hawn earned an individual honoree spot on The PD's District All-Scholastic Team of 1983.

SUMMER TIME AT THE POOL

In July of 1988, Rob Svets, a 17-year-old senior diver at Saint Ignatius, placed first on the one-meter board and second on the three-meter board during the Junior Olympic Regional Championships in Indianapolis That qualified Rob for the Zone Championships in Clayton, Mo.

AND MORE HONORS

Two of the Wildcats' three state runner-up finishes occurred in the 1990s and that was reflected in one of The Plain Dealer's All-Scholastic Swim Teams that featured Saint Ignatius' Mike Lehto as the Coach of the Year, senior Brian Kindl in the 100-yard butterfly, junior Matt Schlessman in the 100-yard free style and the Wildcats' 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle teams.

WORTH REPEATING

Although the corner reported on the postseason awards presented to the Wildcats' 2010-11 swimming and diving team, it is always worth repeating a few of the highlights. Again, those ones that stick in your mind.

The 200 Medley Relay team set a new varsity mark at 1:33.64 and sophomore Derek Hren set a new school record in the 100 Breaststroke, 57.16. Hren garnered Most Valuable Swimmer, junior Keith Carmichael was the Most Valuable Diver and the prestigious Coaches Cup went to senior David Kloos.

OK, everybody out of the pool.