Hamilton Heights made some Huskies history Saturday at the IHSAA boys state swimming and diving meet last Saturday.
The Huskies went 1-2 in the diving event. A pair of Heights juniors, Ethan Swart and Nathan Cox, used spectacular final dives to jump to the top of the list, with Swart placing first and Cox placing second.
It was the first time a Huskies boys diver has won a state title. Two Heights girls, Brooke Schultz and Ivy Houser, both won titles previously for the Huskies.
Swart clinched the state title by scoring over 60 points on his final dive, a back two-and-a-half somersault. He said he was “ecstatic” when he saw that number after the dive.
“When I threw that final dive, I really had no clue how it was going to go, because during practice, it wasn’t doing like I should, like I’ve done it before,” said Swart. “But I just got up on the board. I took a deep breath in and out and I hit that dive.”
Cox had earlier scored high on his last dive, a front one and a half somersault with two twists.
“I think it went really well,” said Cox. “That dive, I put it in my last dive because it’s one of my favorites to do and it’s pretty much perfect every single time, or at least what I try to do. I know that I can count on it to score big points.”
Swart and Cox led a parade of divers from the Fishers regional to the top six places at state. Oak Hill’s Grant Cates was third, followed by the Tigers’ Jacob Schade in fourth. Noblesville’s Aiden Kless took fifth and Western’s Evan Butcher was sixth.
“It always puts pressure on almost every single dive and you have to be able to have your ‘A’ game that day,” said Cox.
And since both Huskies are juniors, they are already thinking about next year.
“We’re going to be grinding even harder so we can beat each other next year too,” said Cox.
The two compete against each other in AAU meets as well, but also compete with each other in synchronized diving.
“We’re basically the same person,” said Swart.”When it comes down to synchro, it’s really good,” said Swart.
Last Saturday, it was perfect for the Huskies.