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These swimming, diving All-Americans lead Cincinnati into 2024 postseason

brendan connelly, cincinnati enquirer
·6 min read

The high school swimming and diving postseason has begun in Ohio and Kentucky. The final month of the season is what aquatic athletes work for all season.

A full season of hard work often results in personal best results at the sectional, regional and state level. If those results are in the top 100 in the country for a given event, athletes are named All-Americans by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.

Here are the swimmers and divers on both sides of the river who have been honored in the last three years and could earn more honors after this season.

Vote: Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky high school athlete of the week, Feb. 5

CHCA

Junior Taylor Bacher is the Eagles' only active All-American. Her times of 1:49.80 in the 200-yard freestyle and 4:54.56 in the 500-yard freestyle in 2023 were good for 76th and 57th in the country, respectively.

Cooper

Peytton Moore is the Jaguars' only All-American still in high school. She received the honor after the 2022 and 2023 school years for her diving efforts.

Moore will dive for the third state championship of her high school career after winning in 2021 and 2021. She is also on pace to be named an All-American for the third straight year.

Covington Catholic

Alongside Moore, Jake Larkin could give Northern Kentucky a sweep in the state diving competition. Larkin became an All-American in 2023 after taking third place at state for the second straight year. His score at the state meet has increased year over year, from 392.85 as a freshman to 495.65 as a junior.

Larkin recently set a school and Seventh Region record of 607.75 at the regional diving championships. Not only does he have a chance to win the state championship, but he could also break 2015 CovCath graduate Louie Hunt's state record of 569.40.

Kings

Maya Schweikert is a two-time All-American for the Knights, once as an individual and once as a member of a relay team. She earned both honors as a freshman. Her time of 54.35 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke was good for 26th in the nation last year.

Kings sophomore Maya Schweikert was an All-American as a freshman in her signature stroke, the backstroke.
Kings sophomore Maya Schweikert was an All-American as a freshman in her signature stroke, the backstroke.

Current seniors Ashleigh Bender and Faith Rudowski joined her on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that swam the 93rd fastest time in the country (3:30.25).

Mason

The Comets have multiple All-Americans on both the girls and the boys teams.

Tyler Houpt was a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that took sixth place at the 2023 state meet with a time of 1:25.03. That was the 78th-fastest time in the country.

Houpt and Ethan Fang swam on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that swam a time of 3:07.08, good for fifth place at the 2023 state championships and 82nd in the country.

Mason's Ethan Fang has been an All-American on two different relay teams.
Mason's Ethan Fang has been an All-American on two different relay teams.

Fang's first All-American honor came as a member of the 200-yard medley relay that had the 16th-fastest time in the country in 2022. The foursome of Fang, Eli Deyvak, Carl Bloebaum and Max Plumley swam a time of 1:30.87.

Dana Fairbanks, Julia Gregory, Addison Soehnlen and Kaitlyn Weitz broke into the top 100 times in the 200-yard medley relay with their last swim of the 2023 season. Their time of 1:45.55 was good for 93rd in the country last year.

Ryle

Senior Landon Isler was a diving All-American in 2023 after placing second at the state championships with a score of 517.75.

Like Larkin, Isler has improved his score and place at the state meet. He was fifth as a sophomore in 2022, scoring 389.85 points.

St. Ursula

The Bulldogs have three team state championships (1993-1995) but have five All-Americans in the last four years.

Junior Addie Robillard is a two-time All-American in the 200-yard individual medley, while also swimming the 21st-best time in the 100-yard breaststroke in 2022 (1:01.44). She is also a two-time honoree in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

St. Ursula's Addie Robillard has twice been named an All-American in the 200-yard individual medley. She is also the defending state champion in the event.
St. Ursula's Addie Robillard has twice been named an All-American in the 200-yard individual medley. She is also the defending state champion in the event.

Senior Natalie Gockerman is the only other individual All-American. Her time of 4:55.93 in the 500-yard freestyle in 2022 was good for 90th in the country. She also has four relay All-American times, two in the 200-yard freestyle and two in the 400-yard freestyle.

Sydney Herr, Caroline Lied and Audrey Zimmerman have all earned All-American honors as members of various relay teams. Herr, like Robillard, was a member of two 200-yard medley relays and two 400-yard freestyle relays that posted top 100 times. Lied earned the honor a total of four times, twice each for both freestyle relay distances. Zimmerman has swam on four 200-yard relay teams, split between the medley and the freestyle.

St. Xavier

The Bombers' list of All-Americans is just as long as their list of Greater Catholic League-South titles and state championships.

Seniors Jaeger Ellerman, Alex Ingram, Thackston McMullan and Max Ward have combined for 21 All-American times since they were freshmen.

McMullan leads the way with 14 top 100 times, eight as an individual and six as a member of a relay team. All of his honors have come in the freestyle; he has been recognized at every individual distance and both relay distances. In 2021, he was one of two freshmen to be named an All-American in the 200-yard freestyle.

St. Xavier's Thackston McMullan has earned 14 career All-American honors in his high school career, a number that will likely increase at the conclusion of this season.
St. Xavier's Thackston McMullan has earned 14 career All-American honors in his high school career, a number that will likely increase at the conclusion of this season.

Ingram became an All-American for his time of 4:31.19 in the 500-yard freestyle in 2022, and a time of 1:39.30 in the 200-yard freestyle in 2023. He was also on the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams that earned top 100 times in 2022 and 2023.

Ward, a sprinter, swam top 100 times in the 50-yard freestyle (20.48 seconds) and the 100-yard butterfly (48.14 seconds) in 2023. He has been on three All-American relays; two were the 200-yard medley relays in 2022 and 2023.

Ellerman was also on those medley relay teams as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay team in 2023. His lone individual honor came with a time of 55.94 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke in 2023.

Walnut Hills

As a freshman, Quinn Schureck swam a time of 1:03.49 in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2023 state championships. That time not only earned her a third-place finish, it was the 98th-fastest time in the country.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati swimming, diving All-Americans lead area to 2024 postseason