Dual celebration as Niwot girls swim wins inaugural meet at new facility

It has been three long seasons since the Niwot girls swim team has had a home pool, but with the opening of the Aquatic Center of St. Vrain Valley earlier this month, its wandering days are over. On Jan. 21, the Cougars tested the new waters against league rival Roosevelt, and, for head coach Kyle Bachrodt, having a place that the team can officially call its own is nothing short of "amazing."

"To be 15 minutes from school is so convenient for us," he said of the new facility, located next to Silver Creek High. "To have a home pool gives us an identity. We've always had an identity, but it was based off of times and based off of swims. Now we actually have a physical identity."

Before the swimmers took to the pool, Bachrodt and the team also paid tribute to its members who have been "homeless" for much of their high school careers. In a short but emotional ceremony, the seven senior Cougars (Mary Codevilla, Rowan Osgood, Mackenzie Simon, Sophie Gephardt, Mina Althshuler, Kennedy Campbell, and McKenzie Campbell) and their parents were introduced to the crowd by a teammate, before hitting the pool to kick-start the meet. Niwot swim's class of 2022.

"I appreciate my seniors like nobody else, but nobody appreciates them more than their teammates, or underclassmen that look up to them," Bachrodt said.

Led by one of those seniors, Codevilla, Niwot went on to win the dual in dominating fashion, taking first in each event. Codevilla posted two individual wins, and led two relays, while juniors Jameson Legh, Steph Mow, Juliana Strope, and Rowan Levigne also claimed easy victories. But not many of Niwot's swimmers posted new personal or season-bests on the day, a result Bachrodt said wasn't surprising.

"Now isn't the time when we swim our fastest. This is the point in the season where we're putting yards in practice, and it's supposed to hurt. We aren't supposed to swim our best times now. We swim and we build for the end of the season. So I'm very happy with where our times are at right now."

One notable exception on the day was the performance of freshman Lauren Brooks, a new swimmer who has impressed the coach with her dedication and work ethic.

"This is a girl who could not swim, couldn't do a 25, and now she's racing 50s and 100s." he said. "I have very high expectations for the upper levels of our team, but when I can see a brand new swimmer do what Lauren and some of these other girls are doing, that's where I know we're doing things right. And when I see the fastest swimmer in the state, talk to a brand new swimmer after a race, that's a win for me."

With the win, Niwot moved to 4-0 on the year in head-to-head competition, with just a handful of events left until the Class 4A state meet on Feb. 11-12.

See more photos from Niwot's first meet at the SVAC here.