The 5A State Swim Meet was held at the Wasatch Aquatic Center this weekend. The championship event was originally scheduled to occur at Brigham Young University. However, a few weeks ago, due to Covid concerns, BYU decided not to hold the meet at its pool this year. Wasatch stepped in, and the 5A meet was moved to Heber City. Since Wasatch is a 5A team, they were able to compete at home.
Wasatch Aquatic Director Dennis Tesch believes it means a lot to the Heber Valley community to have the state championship here. “We built this pool to hold big swimming meets. We built it to be fast and to hold lots of teams. I think to the community it means that we love our sports, and we want the sports of Utah to come to the valley and have a great time.”
Since the meet was moved last minute up the mountain, it could have caused issues with other coaches. However, according to Tesch, the 5A coaches “knew it’s a good pool. They knew we could host a meet.”
The Wasatch Aquatic Center was built by the school district only a few years ago. It was created to replace the outdated high school pool, and an activity area for the public was included as well. “It’s a district pool, so of course district events like this are first,” explained Tesch, “and then we want to do youth sports, and it’s been great for the public use too.”
Olympus High School won first place in both the boy and girl swim meets. Wasatch High School, however, did well, winning second and third in multiple individual races. Their highest ranking was Jayden Hicken’s second place finish in the 50 freestyle event.
“They’re swimming very well,” said Tesch. “[Head coach Shawn Marsing] has been impressed with the swims. The team is placing high, and it’s been a good meet for them.”
Though the public was unable to attend this year, the swim meet was broadcast online. The coaches are hoping for more public involvement next time. Tesch stated, “We hope to continue to do these, and we hope in the future the community can come and watch, instead of just watching through the tv. It would be a lot of fun.”
