Well shaved, well fed, and well prepared, the New Trier Boys Swim and Dive took home the 2016 CSL South Varsity Championships on Saturday the 13th, crushing second place Glenbrook South by 111 points with a grand total of 477 points through all twelve events.

Led by a solid core of seniors, the varsity Trevians had at least one team member in the top three of each event. Additionally, the 200 yard medley relay (a combination of strokes), the 200 yard freestyle relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay were swept by the Trevians, a sample of their dominance at the meet.

Given that the state finals are on Feb. 26 and 27, the season is far from over for the members of the team. The season kicked off with its first meet on Dec 5, but for many teammates, the state finals in just over a week will be the culmination of years of work.

The swimming and diving team is known for having a very rigorous practice schedule. Given that pool time at Winnetka can be hard to come by, the varsity and junior varsity teams find themselves awake for practices that begin as early as 5:45 am and then staying after school for two more hours of swimming.

For sophomore Ryan Gridley, the early morning grind has been worth it over the last two years of his varsity career. “Call me crazy,” he said, “but training with my teammates in the dead of winter at 5:45 in the morning is a thrill. I love training with my teammates and creating a sense of camaraderie with them.”

Many other members of the swim team agree with Gridley that the camaraderie and team pride is worth the early mornings and late nights, including his twin brother Patrick.
“The best part of swimming (at least for me) is having fun and bonding with your teammates in and out of the pool.”

Ryan and Patrick Gridley have become stalwarts on the swim team despite just being in their second year at New Trier, participating in events such as the 100 yard backstroke together.

The two Gridleys speak highly of each other as brothers, competitors, and as teammates.
“It’s great to always have competition with him,” Ryan said of his twin. “We push each other to levels we never imagined we’d achieve ten years ago, when we first started swimming.”

Although Patrick and Ryan share a direct bond through kinship, the key to success for other Trevian swimmers has also been forming bonds with teammates throughout the season. Senior Teddy Crimmins commented on the team bonding activities and the support that everyone in the locker room showed for each other.

Crimmins said, “Throughout my four years as a swimmer, my favorite part was being with my teammates. I loved the team bonding, we would do activities such as hosing each other off and hopping in the showers together, and it was especially fun to do that with Ryan Wipperfurth. We would also bleach and shave our hair together, which is an awesome tradition.”

The shiny bald heads seen bobbing through the halls recently can be attributed to the annual shaving that members of the team participate in.

“Hair is a drag,” Crimmins said. “When you’re in the water every second counts, and so shaved hair means shaved time.”

Recently, shaved senior Michael Krueger, who set a meet record at the recent JV swim meet with his 100 butterfly time, said that despite the mental and physical strain that the sport puts on the team, being together with teammates takes an edge off. “Hanging with the guys on the team, playing Super Smash Bros. and Risk is just the best.”

New Trier will look to bring the same amount of energy that they brought to conference in the state competition. They will try to win their first state championship since 2013, when they won their last of three straight state championships. The last two champions have been Normal and Hinsdale Central.