At the midpoint of their season, Jonathan Alder’s swim team has shown steady improvement since opening their season on December 6, 2025. With several strong meets behind them, the team hopes to continue progressing.
The Pioneers began their season by traveling to the Ohio State University to compete in the Ned Reeb Invitational meet against Division 1 and Division 2 schools. When being met with this challenge, the girls ended up placing 14th overall out of 47 teams, while the boys placed 41st. Despite the competition, the team was able to show its strength.
This meet was split into flights by A and B. Some of our swim athletes, such as senior and captain Lily Schneider, were able to reach a certain time in order to compete in flight A while the rest of the team competed in flight B.
Schneider placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke and is expected to qualify for states this season for the fourth time in a row, which will be determined based on her times and placements as the season goes on. Schneider has been a top performer for the team and has high hopes for the rest of the team as well.
“We have a bunch of new freshmen and sophomores,” Schneider says. “So I think that our relays will be really good, especially because a lot of people on the team do practice year-round.”
Schneider pointed out this year round dedication when discussing the high expectations for the team. Accomplishments in swimming do not come from nothing; they come from the hard work and commitment of the athletes year round.
Schneider says, “I feel like swimming, it’s a lot. I practice six days a week for three and a half hours most days. So it’s just a lot of training.”
Although this amount of training is a commitment, swimmers say that it is worth it.
Freshman Andrew Bush says, “Honestly, like, staying in shape [is most important]… so I don’t fall behind during races.”
Since the Ned Reeb meet, the team has competed at Bellefontaine and Marysville High School. The girls performed strongly at both these competitions, with placing 1st at Bellefontaine against 7 other teams.
The team will compete next against Dublin Scioto and Teays Valley at the Dublin Community Rec Center on January 16.
As the season progresses, the team plans to continue their hard work and is hoping for it to pay off. Bush says this is important, “So we can actually do what we love.”
