The Seymour Owls swimming program held its annual award ceremony and banquet Tuesday evening. The team had a lot to celebrate including two qualifiers from the boys’ team who went to diving regionals.

Cole Simmons and Machy Burton both advanced past the sectional for Seymour this season.

But it also was an historic season for both the boys’ and girls’ squads as they both tied or set single-season records in wins for a team.

The boys compiled a 15-2 record, setting the mark for the most in Seymour history by any swimming team. It also was the boys’ 31st consecutive winning season.

The girls went 14-2-1, tying the 1994 and 2023 teams with the most in school history. The girls’ team also recorded its 30th consecutive winning season.

Coach Dave Boggs reflected on the 2023-24 season at the banquet.

“We don’t do anything special. We don’t rest our swimmers on certain nights,” Boggs said. “We just stick to the plan and work hard throughout the year. It was special to see the growth of our kids during this season.”

Both teams gave their all in the sectional meet held at Floyd Central.

The girls recorded 25-of-25 lifetime bests in that meet, placing second ahead of Jeffersonville and behind the host Highlanders. The Seymour boys team recorded 21-of-24 in lifetime bests in their sectional contest and finished in second place.

“That is really hard for a team to accomplish,” Boggs said.

Both teams’ combined winning percentage was the second-highest all-time in Seymour history at 29-4-1. The only team with a higher winning percentage was is the 1990-91 squad, which had a combined record of 23-3.

Six athletes were honored for their hard work in the classroom, which means a lot to him, Boggs said.

Caden Harriss, Lucas Jablonski and Chaze Combs were chosen as 2024 Academic All America for the boys ’ team.

Makenna Greenawalt, Avery Miller and Shayla Thompson were chosen for the 2024 Academic All America girls’ team. These six add to the total of now 72 Academic All-Americans in the Owls program history.

”We stress and praise academics to these kids,” Boggs said. “We’ve had a number of valedictorians in the program over the years. We always stress to them get the best grades possible and they followed through.”

Twelve Owls will graduate from the swimming program this spring. The seniors are Greenawalt, Stephanie Lopez, Miller, Isabell Knotts, Sophie Coates, Avery Stewart, Thompson, Carmyn Wilson, Harriss, Combs, Jablonski, C.J. Polley and Larry Simons.

“We made a lot of breakthroughs this year, more mentally than anything else,” Boggs said. “It’s great to see the potential of this team when we work hard. I’m excited to see us continue to work and continue to push ourselves this offseason.”

Seymour begins its summer swimming program April 15.

Awards

MVP

Girls: Carmyn Wilson, Addy Castetter

Boys: Lane Mellencamp, Colin Hartung

Most Improved

Girls: Ally Bryant

Boys: Lucas Jablonski

110% Award

Girls: Makenna Greenawalt

Boys: CJ Polley

Mental Attitude

Girls: Lyndsey Greenawalt

Boys: Caden Harriss

Coaches Award

Girls: Maggie Calhoun

Boys: Eli Reasoner

Academic All-American

Girls: Makenna Greenawalt, Avery Miller, Shayla Thompson

Boys: Caden Harriss, Lucas Jablonski, Chaze Combs