Tupelo High School Swim Team Looks For Another Win

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Tupelo High swim team has won eleven straight state swimming championships, and this weekend, they intend to make it twelve in a row.

The Tupelo Aquatic Center is packed with fans and high school swimmers from around the state. Tupelo High Coach Lucas Smith encourages his team members and gets them focused as they prepare to compete.

Chandler Craig is one of the assistant coaches who graduated in 2014 and is helping out until he ships off to the Navy. He says it’s about consistency.

“Really, we just a good continuing program. We just have good, senior mentors that motivate the younger people, and we just keep having the speed coming,”said Craig.

“What makes our swim team program so unique and special is the love and family that we have on our team. We’re also dedicated, and we love each other, and we just kind of put it out in the pool,” said Craig.

“I think we work the hardest. We come together as a family very well. If someone’s not doing good, we make sure they stay dedicated. Coach works us pretty hard. I think everyone does their best especially when it comes to state. I mean no one really slacks off especially at the end of the season,” said Senior Blair Thorntan.

Junior Cooper King says it’s about carrying on the team’s legacy.

“Being part of such a long line of success really just has moved me to get a lot better and practice a lot harder knowing that many people came before me, and it’s a legacy that I just don’t need to let down,” said Junior Ethan Criddle.

Even eighth graders can make the team.

“It’s really fun, and it’s fun to meet a lot of new people. We’re with 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th so it’s kind of fun to meet all those before you get to high school and stuff,” said 8th grader Mary Lawson Lesley.

While the long string of state championships predated the opening of the Tupelo Aquatic Center, certainly, having it as their practice facility and being able to host the state meet here gives them a distinct home pool advantage.

“When I was swimming, we swam at the pool at Joiner, so we couldn’t have anything more than a dual meet on a weekday there. It’s definitely nice. We don’t have to worry about traveling, having kids sleep in the hotel rooms. They get to sleep in their own beds. They practice in this pool every single day,” said Lesley.

“I think it gives sort of a home court advantage you know. Something to really get used to. Like at a lot of meets, the walls are off distance a little bit, so it’s the little things that all add up,” said Criddle.

“It’s a way bigger step up from whenever I first started swimming back at Joiner. And it definitely does help a lot. And we have one of the fastest pools in the state right now.”

“We’re to the wall. We’re used to the water. Some water’s thick. Some water is thin and we’re really all used to it so it’s really nice for us to have it here.”

Thornton downplays the home pool advantage.

“Our team has been doing our best and winning championships for years now even when we didn’t have a pool like this. So I think that it helps a little bi,t but I think that it’s definitely not the main factor,” aid Thornton.