Fort Mill High School swimmers win individual state swimming titles

The Fort Mill girls’ swim team made a mad dash in the last third of the 5A state swim meet, but couldn't catch the Riverside Warriors, who won both the boys’ and girls’ state championships Friday evening.

However, Fort Mill didn't come home empty handed after winning four state championship events and were the only York County school to bring home a title. Ben Fenwick won twice for the boys and Erynn Black and Aubrey Chandler each won an event as well for the Yellow Jackets.

After event 16 of the 22, Fort Mill’s girls were in fourth, but were able to take out two schools to climb to second overall. The Fort Mill boys finished fifth overall.

"Every year, I feel like we have a chance," said Fort Mill head coach Cindy Van Buskirk. "My team is young and they did well. I am thrilled with the boy’s performance."

Fort Mill brought the most of the local 5A swim teams with 28 competitors –14 boys and 14 girls. Nation Ford was next with 17 total swimmers. Clover had nine and Northwestern brought seven, while Rock Hill brought a couple swimmers as well.

The biggest challenge in Friday's state meet at the University of South Carolina Natatorium came from Riverside, which started off the meet by winning the girls’ 200-yard medley relay. Fort Mill finished third in the event.

Fort Mill’s boys got a big win in the 200-yard individual medley with Fenwick winning in 1:53.82. Nation Ford's Ryan Williams came in second at 1:56.28.

Williams and Fenwick are used to being competitors and teammates as they swim together year round as well.

"We like to compete," Fenwick said. "It's nothing new. Going into it, I just wanted to do the best I could."

Right after Fenwick’s win, Chandler won the girls' 50-yard freestyle in 24.67, edging Rock Hill's Lanie Jo Knight by less than a second. Chandler, just a freshman, said she tries not to think about the fastest event in swimming.

"I try to get in the zone and not think about the competition," Chandler said. "I just try to clear my mind."

Fenwick came back about midway through the meet to again give the Jackets a boost after winning the 500-yard freestyle in 4:38.92 for his second state championship of the evening.

The last third of the meet started off with another win from Fort Mill when Black won the girls' 100-yard backstroke in 56.82 edging Anna Ashley of Clover by about a second and-a-half.

"I thought about pushing the pace from the start," Black said.

Nation Ford's best finish came from Williams, who had four top-five finishes. Overall, the Falcons finished 10th for the boys and 21st for the girls.

“It is faster than I thought it would be,” said Nation Ford head coach Kristin Martin. “It was a fast meet. I am very proud. I thought we did well.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2016 at 9:03 AM with the headline "Fort Mill High School swimmers win individual state swimming titles."