The Class 1 state swim meet kicked off Thursday in St. Peters where the Glendale Falcons are looking to three-peat as state champions.
The Glendale boys swimming team has a standard of winning.
“We were third four years ago, second three years ago and then a pair of firsts,” Glendale Swim Coach Steve Boyce said.
That success is in large part due to three of the Falcons’ seniors, Michael Jasinski, Lucas Chadwell, and Trey Flouer.
“They’re really setting a standard that we haven’t seen in quite a while on the state level,” Boyce added.
All three have been contributing factors to the team titles.
Jasinski is the reigning 100 freestyle state champion, and all three were a part of a winning relay their junior season.
However, their success together goes back to way before high school.
“We’ve been with each other since we were kids. Steve’s been our coach since we were five years old,” Chadwell said.
“We all grew up around each other and then we all just went to Glendale so we kind of met back up in high school,” added Flouer.
Being together for most of their swimming careers, has been a big advantage.
“Every day we just work really hard and that’s the backbone of our success, just us pushing each other every day in practice and that’s what makes us so good,” Jasinski said.
“You don’t want to lose to your brothers, so you’re always trying to beat them. That’s helped, we each motivate each other in the right ways we’re always on each other’s butts if we’re not doing the right thing. It helps a lot especially seeing each other succeed,” Chadwell added.
That high expectation in practice has had a ripple effect on the entire team.
“You’ve got big time guys leading the way in training it just raises everybody else’s level,” said Boyce.
Entering their senior season looking for their third state title, the pressure began to mount.
“We’re used to swimming with pressure, dealing with pressure. For me pressure makes me swim better and swim faster,” Jasinski said.
“Pressure, especially in swimming, it just gives you that extra little boost it helps so much,” said Chadwell.
“We’ve been here before, we’ve done it three times in a row. We know what we’re doing a little bit but it still definitely gets your nerves up and adrenaline pumping when you think about it,” added Flouer.
As they near their final laps together, they’re hoping to end on top.
“It’s an emotional year especially towards the end with state. Especially with our chemistry kind of coming to an end, we’ve been doing this all our life together,” Chadwell said.
“It’s been emotional but it’s been a lot of fun, probably my most fun year of swimming here,” said Flouer.
