This year’s swim season has been one filled with team spirit and broken records, as 23 swimmers worked hard to make this year one to remember. Two teammates, sophomore Zach Hirata and freshman Skylar Zuleger, made a splash at the regional and state levels, accomplishing major achievements with the help of coaches and a balance of fun.
The success didn’t only come to these two swimmers, though; the team continued to achieve personal bests throughout the season, with many even making it to regionals for the first time in their careers.
This year also marked the arrival of a new member of the coaching staff: Katie Shoaf. Shoaf joined the team following the retirement of Lance White last year. As most swimmers on the team noted, Shoaf is a positive supporting light on the team, a point emphasized by Hirata.
“It was probably one of the best seasons for Davie as a whole, and I think the support from the coaches and everyone on the team played a huge part in that,” Hirata said.
Hirata has been on the team for two years now and has a long career in swim . Starting at age 6, Zach fell in love with the competitive atmosphere and racing. With his love of racing and competition, he made it to States this year, breaking his previous 100 backstroke record time at this year’s Regional Championships.
“It was definitely exciting to make it to states individually this year,” Hirata said. “North Carolina is one of the fastest states in the country, so to be able to make states at all is super cool.”
Like Hirata, Zuleger has also spent much of her life in the swim world, starting from a young age and slowly growing into the swimmer she is today. She began swimming competitively around four years ago. Her favorite part about swimming is the fact that everyone is still able to come together and understand each other, even though it is an individual sport. Her highlight of the season was swimming 100 breaststroke at States.
“I was super happy with my swim, and it was rewarding after all of the training leading up,” Zuleger said. She attributes her success to her dad and coaches for helping her. “I am lucky enough to be coached by my dad year round and in high school, which is super special, and I wouldn’t have nearly as many achievements without him. Coach Katie and Coach Tak have also been so amazing and supportive of me, they also have helped me be in the best positions for success.”
Seniors on the team also celebrated many years in the group. Historically, the swim team celebrates its seniors by recognizing their achievements before one of their final meets. The seniors receive a small gift from the coaches and flowers for their send-off; the underclassmen swimmers are provided cards to sign with well wishes and thanks to the seniors for their last season. This year, there were four seniors on the team, Brady Sheek, Sarah Rajacich, Braden Brooks, and Hayden Key. All of the girls have been on the team since their freshman year, and Key since his sophomore year.
It’s clear that the energy and community of Davie High swimming is one of the favorite parts of being on the team, but it wouldn’t be possible without the support of the coaches. The team is led by head coach Dr. Tak Hirata with Chad Zuleger and Katie Shoaf serving as assistant coaches. As Hirata notes, though, the fact that they have been in this position for the past four years has come as a welcome surprise. Dr. Hirata and Chad Zuleger stepped up around three years ago to lead this team after the unexpected departure of the team’s previous head coach.
“They reached out to coach Chad and myself as they knew we were excited about swimming and we had been coaching for USA swimming and summer leagues,” Hirata said. “We really took it on as a one year thing to keep the team going, but things have a funny way of working out. We’re still here 4 years later and couldn’t imagine a better team and teens to work with.”
Each member of the coaching staff strives to create a supportive atmosphere for the swimmers. While his “one-year thing” has extended to a more permanent position, he is thankful that he has the opportunity to work with a group of teens that is willing to put in the work to improve themselves, a philosophy he communicates to them throughout the season.
“I challenge them to keep improving every day, keep striving to be better than they were yesterday, embrace doing hard things when things get hard, and hopefully, they will be a better and kinder version of themselves because they were part of this team.”
