The swim team faced several stiff challenges in the past two weeks as the end of the season inches ever closer.

Starting two weeks ago January 14, Beaver Area faced their rivals at Quaker Valley once again. Although the boys team finally beat the Quakers after a long streak of losing last season, it was unknown whether or not the quakers could continue their dominance.

However, after some uncertainty, the boys managed to win by a comfortable margin 100-73. Unfortunately the Quaker Valley girls remained an insurmountable obstacle from years past, beating the Bobcat girls 98-56.

Two days later, Beaver hosted Cornell for the first time in several years. Swimmers were extremely pleased with this change in setting.

"The best part about not competing at Cornell's pool is not having to taste their awful water or walk on the floor [that feels like it’s] made of LEGO bricks," said sophomore Dmitri Mathias.

The boys team beat Cornell 89-45, while the girls beat the Raiders 86-30.

The next meet January 20 was an out-of-section meet against triple-A South Fayette.

While the meet didn’t technically matter for the Bobcats' chances in their own section, the boys and girls teams both gave it their all. For the boys, it paid off—almost. They ended up tying the Lion boys 91-91, and just barely preserving their undefeated record. Despite their effort, the Beaver Area girls faced the wrath of a full triple-A team, losing 120-50.

Finally January 22, Beaver faced Beaver Falls in some closer-to-home competition. Going in, the boys and girls teams knew it would be a simple meet, so the meet was mostly just used for swimmers to try their very best to get MAC and WPIAL cuts.

Additionally, junior Nick Mathias was unexpectedly cleared to swim for the meet after being out with a leg injury for two weeks.

"I came back not knowing if I would be good or not, and I ended up qualifying for WPIALs [in the 100 fly]," said Mathias.

Both teams won, the boys winning 93-55 and the girls 83-69, with the girls grabbing a welcome third win of the season.

"Beaver Falls did great, but we pulled through even though we weren’t used to all our events," said junior Sydney Monit.

Check upcoming ECHO installments for reports on meets with Pine Richland and Montour.