After Dexter won the SEC White championship for 22 years in a row, the Chelsea girl’s swim team finally won this year and capped off a successful season.

At SECs, Chelsea competed against Jackson, Tecumseh, Adrian, Pinckney, and Ypsilanti and won with 571 total points. Individually, lots of swimmers had outstanding times performances and made all-conference: Bella Turner (‘22) and Riley Monahan (‘23) placed first and second in the 200-yard freestyle, Keygan Monahan (‘25) placed third in the 200-yard individual medley, and Amanda Dosey (‘22) and Paiton Doyle (‘25) placed second and third in the 50-yard freestyle. Turner also placed first in the 100-yard freestyle, R. Monohan placed first in the 500-yard freestyle, the “A” relay consisting of Turner, Chelsea Paddock (‘22), Doyle, and Dosey placed first in the 200 freestyle relay, and Dosey and Tallulah Gorby (‘25) placed second and third in diving.

The overall success of the team was made possible because of the hard work every swimmer put in during the season.

“We start off practicing in August and we swim about 4000 yards every practice,” Paddock said. “Right before SECs, we switch into taper season, which is where we cut back our yardage every practice.”

Swimmers practice both early in the morning before school and after school. Following this rigorous schedule meant that the team improved a lot over the course of the season.

“I think the growth we went through throughout the season as a team and as individuals was really cool,” Paddock said. “We were all basically strangers at the beginning of the season and now, at the end of the season, we’ve become super close.”

The team not only grew as athletes during the season, but also improved as a team.

“We spend a lot of time together as a team during morning practice and afternoon practice,” Paddock said. “Singing in the locker room, doing team cheers, and other traditions like Secret Swimmer all create friendships on the team that also make us more compatible in the pool.”

“Secret Swimmer” is an activity based on Secret Santa; each swimmer gets another swimmer on the team then delivers a present to each of their five periods during the school day.

These little bonding moments and more, like team dinners before big meets, helped to bring the team together, especially since there were a lot of underclassmen on the team.

“We had a large freshmen class, and as SECs came around we all got to know each other much better,” Dosey said. “I think everyone has improved a lot.”

Every year, there is a senior night for honoring seniors on the team held at a meet.

“At senior night, the seniors got to pick the lineup for the meet, which was fun,” Paddock said. “We ended up doing a senior relay, where all the seniors swam.”

Qualifying for states in swimming and diving is a little different from other sports, but is still just as challenging.

“To qualify for states in swimming, you have to make the state-cut time for the event you are competing in,” Dosey said. “To qualify for states in diving, you have to qualify for regionals then place in the top nine at regionals.”

The team did well at states with Dosey and Gorby finishing thirteenth and fourteenth in diving, Dosey finishing twenty-fourth in the 500 free, the 200 freestyle relay consisting of Paddock, Doyle, Turner, and Dosey placing seventh, R. Monahan placing seventeenth in the 500 freestyle and eighteenth in the 200 free, and Turner placing sixth in both the 50 free and 100 free, breaking her varsity records in both events throughout the meet.

Overall, the team had a strong season this year and saw a huge accomplishment in taking home first place at SEC championships.

“It feels good leaving the team knowing that we’ve accomplished a big milestone that we’ve been striving for since I’ve been a freshman,” Paddock said.