The swim season wrapped up with a tournament at the University of Pittsburgh Trees swimming pool February 28 and March 1.

The University of Pittsburgh swimming pool complex is massive with three separate pools, a far cry from any of the pools the team swam in this year.

To qualify for WPIALs, swimmers must reach certain times in their races throughout the season. For most, these times seem unachievable, so qualifying for WPIALs is an achievement in itself. Unfortunately, no girls qualified this year, so the only ones to attend were several Beaver Area boys.

As with all tournaments, diving took place several days before, and, in a story most readers of the ECHO will be familiar with senior Andrew Cestra once again made history. Cestra won first place and set a new personal and WPIAL record for diving in the process.

For once, Cestra seemed shocked by his performance.

"I was extremely surprised I got the WPIAL record; it wasn’t something I had even thought about going into the competition. I just wanted to win," Cestra said.

Despite this, Cestra isn’t optimistic about his record standing the test of time.

"I doubt I’ll keep the record because the kid who got second this year is only a junior and he was right behind me," he said.

Due to his performance at WPIALs, Cestra is currently at the state competition for diving.

For the swimming portion of the tournament, Beaver was once again a force to reckoned with. Out of 52 schools, Beaver came in nineteenth.

Team captain and senior Donald Hare couldn’t be more excited by the results.

"I was so happy. Everyone had a personal best and dropped time like crazy. I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my swim season," he said.

In a time honored WPIAL tradition, all the other schools gave Beaver gifts in the form of swim caps. Unlike a normal gift, the gift-givers weren’t exactly—a-hem—aware of their generosity.

"All of the teams were so ‘generous;’ I walked away from WPIALs with 15 more caps than I entered with," boasted Hare.

With WPIALs over, the only swim-related activity left is Cestra in state diving competitions. Check out a future ECHO story for information on Cestra’s state performance.