2016-17 Swim and Diving Team, back row: Wesley Shumaker, Gabriel Duffy, Cody Radivoyevitch, Andrew Moore, Nino Pereira, Jacob Braverman, Zach Brust, Brian Hall and David Fleisher, (L-R). Middle row: Coach Dan Budin, Laynie Gosselin, Maria Tarnay and Melanie Graham, (L-R). Front row: Rory McClellan, Glennis Covault, Sylvia Snow-Rackley, Elena Rinaldi, Khalen Flowers, Jesse Gross and Erika Gifford, (L-R). Not pictured: Emma Hodges, Schuyler Radivoyevitch, Ben Schuster, Jessie Titas and Montreal Watkins.
April 18, 2017 -- The Heights High Swimming and Diving team brings real meaning to the term student-athlete. The team received The All-American Scholar Team Award from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) while maintaining a demanding practice schedule of 14-17 hours of training a week.
The 12 member girls team earned a collective GPA of 3.82 (unweighted) and when taking into account their weighted grades from AP courses, the collective GPA was 4.3. The girls team received the Gold-level recognition, placing them at the very top nationally. In 2016, fewer than 60 of 16,000 teams received the Gold award. The 12 member boys team received the Bronze-level award for their academic accomplishments, placing them among the best-performing teams in the country.
Coach Dan Budin is extremely proud of the team. “Being on the swim team and diving team requires a major commitment of time and energy,” said Coach Budin. “For these students to earn such high grades while devoting so much time to training is a real accomplishment. It has been a privilege to work with them and witness their incredible academic success.”
For the past two years, the team had used the Warrensville Heights High School pool for practice and meets, requiring added travel time.
Next year the team will practice and compete in a brand new home pool in the renovated Heights High at the corner of Cedar and Lee. This new facility will offer more practice time than the temporary site. Add time commitment “We are really looking forward to swimming in the new pool next,” said Budin.
Heights High Supervisor of Athletics, Dwight Hollins said “The teams’ academic performance shows a strong to commitment to the Tiger Nation philosophy of student first and athlete second. We are proud of their hard work in the pool and the classroom.”