This August, Bolles sent eight athletes to the Junior World Swimming Championships in Romania. There were over 100 nations present and roughly 600 swimmers. Current Bolles students and Bolles Graduates competed in this meet.
- Liam Carrington ’26 represented Trinidad and Tobago
- Lucas Young ’26 represented Uruguay
- Leah Chin ’27 and Chrissy Shirley ’26 represented Jamaica
- Lucero Mejia ’26 represented Guatemala
- Fayth Jeffery ’27 represented Saint Lucia
- Riley Miller ’26 represented the U.S. Virgin Island
- Tristan Dorville ’25 competed for Saint Lucia
Lucas Young ’26 holding up the Uruguay flag.
These athletes qualified by being one of the top two fastest swimmers in their country in an event, while also going faster than the meet’s time standards. They started training with this meet in focus over a year ago.
The swimmers went to meets across the country to practice swimming at such a high level. Some of the meets didn’t go so well, but Coach Jake Gibbons ’15 said,“a lot of progression happened through the winter and spring leading up to the meet.”.
They split off from the rest of the team towards the end of the summer and then continued practicing until the school year started. They departed for Romania on August 13.
These athletes were competing at the biggest stage of the sport, and Gibbons said the more exposure they get and more meets they go to on this level the more prepared they will be. The athletes needed to lean on their training and believe in their abilities if they wanted to perform well.
Many of the swimmers treated the meet as a learning experience,tying just as hard to learn as they were to perform and place. Gibbons said that they didn’t take any races for granted and cherished the moment. They weren’t just looking for best times or making finals, but to just realize what an awesome opportunity this meet was for them.
Tristan Dorville ’25 summed up his experience as an athlete at Junior Worlds., “I am proud of the way I handled adversity. The biggest teaching moments in life come from when you don’t get your way.
Bolles is known around the country as a prestigious swim program, with alumni including over 50 Olympians and even world record holders. Gibbons said that even though Bolles has a tradition of sending swimmers to the highest level of competitions, the tradition doesn’t just carry over. “Actually sending another generation of swimmers to that meet and then having them come back to the high school season brings a unique perspective to our team.”
The Bolles swim team head coach Peter Verhoef had the ultimate honor of representing the United States as Team USA’s head coach. Gibbons believes that the culture Peter has built at Bolles is the main reason he was selected for this role, and our swimmers representing multiple nations reflects that culture.
The Bolles athletes saw multiple top 20 finishes, including Carrington in the 50 and 100 meter backstroke and Lucas Young in the 200 meter breaststroke. Young also set a National Record in his 200 I.M. with a time of 2:07.49. In addition, Mejia, Chin, and Shirley were all in relays that placed in the top 20 as well.
Bolles’ top swimmer at this meet was Liam Carrington, who made finals in the 100 backstroke and missed by one place in the 50 backstroke.
As the athletes return to campus, their experiences will continue to inspire both their teammates and the entire school community.
