This was an exciting season for Cathedral High School girls swimming. The present was encouraging, which makes the future bright – and which made 2023-2024 a season of accomplishment for the Irish program. “We were really happy with this season,” Irish boys and girls swimming coach Megan Ahnert said. Irish girls swimming in 2024 Irish finished fifth at the Section 14 Meet at Lawrence North with 188 points, with Franklin Central winning the meet with 487 points. The Irish finished second in the City Meet and third at the Schools with No Pools meet in addition to winning a dual meet against Lebanon. “The girls had a lot of great meets,” Ahnert said. Cathedral girls swimming in ’23-24 were led by a senior class that featured strong leadership, as well as a strong sophomore class that should form the program’s core moving forward. “That's really exciting for our program to have such a young group,” Ahnert said. “A lot of our depth and a lot of our strength is in our underclasses right now.” Also memorable for the Irish girls team in 2024: A dual-meet victory over Lebanon, a meet Ahnert called “fun” as it came over a large-school program. “It was in the middle of J term, so our roster wasn't full,” Ahnert said. “We had a lot of people traveling, a lot of people sick. It was really nice for the girls to get a win. We sing the school song at the end of a win. And I think the girls were just really excited that they were the reason that we got to sing school song. It was just special for the girls. “They hadn't won a meet like that in a bit. To show up at a public school that has a pool with a small roster and win was pretty exciting.” Seniors such as Madelyn White, Elizabeth Lewis, Kathryn Hardin and Tess Wojtalik formed a strong leadership core that Ahnert called “awesome.” “It was a great class,” Ahnert said. “I've been with them their whole four years, which is fun. Just having them on deck and being able to support the team and lift the girls up and all of that was really helpful.” The sophomores fared well in individual, multi-team and postseason meets and is a class that features multiple swimmers who compete year-round for club teams. “There's definitely a little bit of a dynamic shift,” Ahnert said. The 2023-2024 Irish also overcame having their lanes – and therefore their early-season practice time – reduced early in the season. The Irish are among several schools without on-campus pools. “I was trying to find spots for us to swim,” Ahnert said. “It was a little nerve-wracking at first. Once we got a good agreement going, it worked out. We got not as much water time as I'd want, but enough that we're still able to get in good yardage.” The 2023-2024 Irish were led by: *White: Seventh in the 100 breaststroke at sectionals (1:16.59), 14th 50 freestyle (27.43). *Sophomore Kiernan Fahey: Ninth 100 breaststroke (1:16.60), 11th 200 individual medley (2:29.45). *Sophomore Jamie Chechitelli: Ninth 100 backstroke (1:06.46), 10th 100 butterfly in (1:07.11). *Sophomore Gabriella Duke: 10th 100 backstroke in (1:07.70). *Sophomore Mary Bradshaw: 11th 200 freestyle (2:16.81), 11th 500 freestyle (6:11.78). *Lewis: 11th 50 freestyle (26.50), 11th 100 butterfly (1:07.29). *Hardin: 12th 200 freestyle (2:18.78), 12th 100 backstroke (1:12.57). *Wojtalik: 13th 100 butterfly (1:13.10), 13th 500 freestyle (6:19.13). *Freshman Grace Zuerner: 15th 200 individual medley (2:42.66), 15th 100 breaststroke (1:23.13). The Irish’s 200 medley relay team – Duke, Fahey, Chechitelli and Lewis – finished fifth in the sectional meet in 2:01.74. The Irish 200 freestyle relay – Duke, Chechitelli, White and Lewis – finished sixth in 1:49.62. The 400 freestyle relay team – Wojtalik, Hardin, Bradshaw and sophomore Addy White – finished fourth in 4:07.28. “We had a lot of girls qualify for sectional finals and then they all improved on their times from Thursday (preliminaries) to Saturday (finals),” Ahnert said. :That was really impressive and really exciting for all of them – especially our seniors— to go out with the best times and really fun races and good finishes. “We're really happy with it. We were pretty consistent with where we've been and there’s a lot of opportunity for growth, too. I feel really good. We're in a good spot to continue growing.”