The girls’ swim team placed seventh out of 61 teams at the state championship meet at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Feb. 7, followed by the boys’ team who took ninth out of 60.

“Several school records were broken,” coach Robin Huggins said. “Donna Blaum broke the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard butterfly. The women’s 400 yard freestyle relay record was also broken.”

Blaum, a sophomore and now three-time gold medalist, swam the 50 yard freestyle in 23.36 seconds, breaking the 2009 record of 23.76 by .40 seconds.  She also set a new time of 54.66 in the 100 yard butterfly, replacing the old time of 55.39 by .73 seconds.

“I was so excited to break the school records,” Blaum said. “I can’t wait for the chance to break more.” Blaum was not the only sophomore to set school records. Fellow 10th grader Nick Palmer obliterated the 500 yard freestyle record of 4:44.74 with his own time of 4:36.21.  Austin Palmer,  Nick’s brother, set the previous record in 2013.

“I was excited to beat my brother’s record and represent my school on the podium,” Nick Palmer said. “Nothing’s better than a little sibling rivalry.”

The women’s relay team for the 400 yard freestyle, consisting of senior Johanna Goldblatt, freshman Kylee Bogumill, junior Sarah Phinney and Blaum, shattered the previous record of 3:40.04 by 8.16 seconds, topping the leaderboard with a time of 3:31.88.

Goldblatt broke a school record on her own, setting a time of 57.31 in the 100 yard backstroke. The previous time was 58.43, giving her a 1.12 second margin of victory.

“It was great to leave a final mark in my individual event,” Goldblatt said. “I’m just proud of our team for all the hard work they put in. For a team without divers, seventh and ninth are exceptional spots.”

The men’s 200 yard medley relay team also set a new school record, replacing the previous record of 1:40.71 with a time of 1:39.94. The relay team consisted of seniors John Michael Hall and Cody Clements, junior Junhan Lee and Palmer.

“My teammates and I all joined hands as we prepared for our race against the opposing teams, fire in our eyes, fear in theirs,” said Hall who also placed in the top 10 for the men’s 100 yard freestyle. “We knew our chance to achieve greatness fell upon our ability to function as a team.”