Women’s swim sweeps season, wins league

PHOTO: Davis High women’s swim team poses with their 2022 championship banner.

By Declan Fee,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

The women’s varsity swim team enjoyed a historic season this year, going undefeated, and winning almost every competition by a very large margin. Except for a narrow 92 to 90 win over Pleasant Grove, the team won every meet by an average of 82 points. 

“We were confident going into the season that we would do really well. You never expect to win by such large numbers … but it just goes to show you how much depth and skill this team has,” head coach John Varley said.

This run earned them the number one spot in the Delta League going into the league championship meet on April 12-13.

Top Devil swimmers, Audrey Portello, Makena Leacox, Sarah Bennetts, Ava Portello, Sanne Dequine, Iz Meraz and Madison Walker represented the team on relay teams during this meet.

Audrey and Ava Portello are sisters and have grown up swimming together. Since they were four and five, the Portellos have accompanied each other through meets and practices. Today, they continue to swim alongside each other and both enjoy the way their relationship has affected the team dynamic.

“I feel very lucky to be able to share swimming with my sister. We both have grown up in the sport, and I am always so proud to watch her successes,” senior Audrey Portello said. “It’s also fun because we are pretty competitive with each other, so bragging rights are always on the line.”

The rest of the Davis swimmers showed up in full force to witness their team’s championship push.

“My favorite moment this year is when we had a huge cheer squad come out for Leagues to cheer for the relays and individual events. They made a few posters and we were by far the loudest team out there,” Varley said.

The team racked up first place finishes in all three relay events, the 200 meter medley, the 200 meter freestyle and the 400 meter freestyle, as well as a majority of the individual competitions. 

Audrey Portello, member of both the 200 meter medley and 400 meter freestyle teams, was elated with how the season went, and loved capping it off with a league championship.

“I thought Davis performed really well … It was awesome to be a part of because we didn’t get to have that meet my sophomore and junior years due to COVID-19. Our (state and section) meets are coming up, both of which I am extremely excited for,” Portello said.

Along with her participation in the 200 meter freestyle and 400 meter freestyle relays, Bennetts broke two school records with her first place performances in the 100 meter breaststroke. 

“I am excited and honored to be one of the record holders for Davis High. I had hoped to break a record and was very proud of myself when I accomplished this goal,” Bennetts said.

These performances culminated in a winning score of 585 points, with runners up, St. Francis coming in with 505 points.

The team now prepares for the section championship on May 5 and 7, and the ensuing state championship on May 12-14. 

“It was really cool to represent a team as accomplished as ours and also be able to defend our title,” Leacox said. “We’re hoping to do the same at the section and state championships, and I am honored to be able to contribute and represent our high school at those meets as well.”

After going 5-1 throughout the season, falling only to Jesuit, the DHS men’s swim team was also poised for sucess at the championship meet. 

The swimmers performed well, but once again, could not beat out Jesuit, earning the number two spot. 

They will also be looking forward to the section meet and hopefully qualifying for states with a top performance.