Zoë Lam is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Perry High School for AZPreps365.com. 

CHANDLER – The Hamilton swim team cruised to victory in both the boys and girls events over Perry on Thursday despite the inclement weather. Hamilton’s boys scored 108 points to Perry’s 70, while the Hamilton girls team also won, 120-66, sweeping relays and a majority of individual events. 

The Huskies won 19 out of 26 events. 

The dual meet started later than usual due to immense rain and lightning in the area. However, that didn’t stop the Huskies from dominating early in the meet. Starting with the 200 medley relay, both the Hamilton boys and girls took first place with times of 1.46.80 and 1.57.06. Perry fell just behind with times of 1.49.16 in the boys column and 2.04.03 in the girls. 

The afternoon started with a 30-minute weather delay that threw off many swimmers’ routines. Perry senior swimmer Colvin Hegg said the pause was a mental hurdle for him personally.

“It was weirder than normal because we took half an hour off and that kind of messed me up,”  Hegg said. “The strangest thing was when the wind blew one of the tents up and it went right over the fence.”

Despite the tough weather conditions and even tougher opponents, Hegg walked away being named the Perry boys swimmer of the week, voted on by the Perry coaching staff. Hegg competed in the 200-meter medley, 200-meter individual medley, 200-meter free relay and the 100-meter breast. He swam as the second leg in all team events and placed top five in both the 200-meter individual medley and 100-meter breaststroke. 

“When I get up on the block, I just try to focus on myself, like I’m the only one in the water,” Hegg said. “If I focus on everyone else, that will mess my race up so I just close my eyes and picture my race.”

Perry showed grit in the mid-distance and breaststroke events, which coach Kathrin Tomah said is exactly what the team needs heading into their last three meets to qualify for the state tournament. 

“We have to keep giving those constant reminders that ‘hey, we’re almost done, keep grinding,” Tomah said.

On the girls' side, Perry saw standout performances from freshman Joselyn Franzone, who won the 500-meter freestyle and placed second in the 100-meter breaststroke. Franzone clocked in with a time of 5.30.26 for the 500. 

Though Hamilton pulled ahead early, Perry swimmers maintained consistent finishes in second and third place, keeping the score closer than it looked on paper.

With only a few meets left before the postseason, Perry is now shifting its attention to fine-tuning form and conditioning. Assistant coach Jacob Glasgow said that this is going to be an all-out effort going forward. 

“It’s a team effort, especially in high school swimming,”  Glasgow said. “Some of these swimmers, it’s their last time swimming so we want to do it for them rather than wait for next year.”

The Pumas head back to their home pool next Tuesday, facing off against Campo Verde at 4 p.m.