Thirteen senior swimmers, new and varsity letterman, celebrated Wednesday’s home meet in their senior night by imparting advice for their fellow teammates as some swam for the last time:

‘Splash Splash.’

A home meet originally intended to be a four-team competition came down to Manhattan and Emporia’s J.V. team as Washburn Rural and Hayden both pulled out of the competition. MHS swimmers took advantage and took first in all 11 events with 205 team points, taking second and fourth place in the diving competition.

“It was pretty easy to race,” senior Justus Bishop said. “It’s kind of a bummer because it’s always fun when you get to really race. But it made it a more easygoing meet.”

Much of the meet came down to swimmers able to drop seconds off their personal bests overall and prepare themselves for the coming League and State meets.  Coach Jerry Carpenter saw numerous bright spots despite the smaller meets with several newer swimmers dropping time still.

“Our top swimmers kind of struggled a little bit,” Carpenter said. “But if they were in a racing situation, they raced well. But when they were way out by themselves, it was kind of hard for them to push themselves when nobody is around.”

As the season draws to a close and the upcoming League meet on Thursday, swimmers look back on the past season as one of improvement for themselves and fellow teammates.

“Swimming is really hard, so it definitely helps me to commit to something and it encourages you to keep at something even when it gets hard,” senior Jillian Kiracofe said.