St. Thomas Academy’s boys swimming and diving team was comprised of a mix of younger athletes who swim year-round, and some seniors who don’t swim year-round. Coach John Barnes wasn’t sure how their chemistry was going to work out this season.

“They became so tight,” Barnes said. “Wednesday night, they went to somebody’s house, ate dinner, and then they watched flippin’ ‘Pitch Perfect’ together.”

Interesting preparation for the state meet. The team met at senior Kayden Greeley’s house for the festivities. No real connection between the movie choice and swimming, though.

“We were all giggling and having fun,” Greeley said. “I don’t know, it was just the move.”

The fun continued into the weekend as St. Thomas Academy defended its Class 1A boys swimming and diving state team championship, sweeping all three relays and winning seven of 12 events on Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota. The Cadets led the meet the entire way and finished with 347 points, ahead of Breck/Blake (210), Northfield (180), Sartell-St. Stephen (158) and Orono (151).

It’s the 17th team title for the Cadets, and the first time they’ve gone back-to-back since winning five in a row from 2012-16.

Their title defense on Saturday started with defending their 200 medley relay title (1:31.95).

Cadets senior Luke Mechtel defended two of his individual titles in the 50 freestyle (20.80) and 100 breaststroke (54.98).

“He had eight events over two days,” Barnes said. “Best times, new team records, All-American (times). But he was just the leader of the team. Emotionally, he just had a huge weekend.”

Greeley took second in the 50 freestyle, improving on his third-place finish in the event last year. Greeley and Mechtel also both swam on the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. The performance was even more impressive given Greeley wasn’t feeling 100%, working through a bad case of mononucleosis that plagued him throughout the season.

“Still fighting it, but luckily I’ve got my team with me, which has really helped me get through it for sure,” Greeley said. “Because it’s all about bonding with my team.”

Freshman Parker Miller (1:53.10), who was also a bit under the weather, edged Breck/Blake junior Teddy Frerichs (1:53.96) in the 200 individual medley, catching up to him in the breaststroke leg of the event. Frerichs also took second in the 100 butterfly. Miller, in addition to his 200 individual medley win, swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay and took third in the breaststroke.

Pascal Zeruhn, a Cadets sophomore, won the 500 freestyle (4:40.56) and was on the 200 freestyle relay.

“It felt amazing seeing those guys get some moments to shine, too,” Mechtel said. “Especially the younger guys. We were a really close group this year, so it was amazing to see those guys get some spotlight, too.

“This year, all the older guys and younger guys came together. We spent a lot more time outside of the pool together.”

The Cadets scored points with four swimmers in the 200 freestyle, but Northfield senior Will Redetzke won that event in 1:42.05 ahead of Cadets sophomore Paidon McGuire (1:42.56) and Cadets senior Sam Quinn (1:44.24), who had the fastest time in the preliminaries.

Redetzke also took fourth in the 100 butterfly as Mankato East senior Elliot Bartell defended his title in that event. McGuire took third.

Junior Odin Berg won a second event for Northfield, the 100 freestyle (46.84), nearly two seconds faster than when he finished eighth last year (48.42). Fergus Falls senior Reece Hansen won the 100 backstroke in 52.59 after taking fourth a year ago.

Fish breaks state diving record

Orono’s Gideon Fish set a new state record with his Class 1A diving title, scoring 558.25. The previous record was 539.60 set by Rosemount’s Lucas Gerten in 2024, and the Class 1A record was 532.70 from Turner Eckstrom (Red Wing) in 2010.

Fish, who finished third at state last year, knew breaking the record was in play but wasn’t a sure thing. He said he was OK with however the results turned out for him.

“I was told that it (the record) might happen before my last dive, but I needed a certain score,” Fish said. “Maybe I didn’t want to know, but it helped me have confidence in myself and know that that was a possibility and that I could have a new record.”