LM girls’ swim dove into the 2025-2026 season with an impactful change as Colin Petitt was instated as the new head coach of both the girls’ and boys’ swim teams. Pettit, a substitute teacher at Welsh Valley, worked to harness the potential of LM’s already strong team. Swimmers remarked that this was a welcome change; Gili Kamienchick ’27 explained that she was “very excited and knew he was going to have good plans for the team.”
With new leadership came changes in practicing schedules. Swimming is a unique sport where many athletes participate in club teams and prioritize those practices over attending school practice. However, Pettit incorporated a new, team-building policy at the start of the season: mandatory Saturday morning practice. This new regimen served to unify the team as they entered into what would become an undefeated season.
From the start of the season, beating Conestoga High School became the prominent goal of the girls’ swim team. Conestoga has held a ten-year streak of remaining undefeated for dual meets, and LM intended to challenge that record. Dual meets, with only two schools competing, quickly passed with LM winning each meet against Upper Darby, Penncrest, Upper Dublin, Cardinal O’Hara, Haverford, and Ridley. Although these meets didn’t provide LM swimmers with much competition, the meets served as a valuable chance to sharpen skills leading up to a meet with Conestoga.
Finally, on January 21, LM suited up to battle Conestoga. Undefeated so far, LM knew that this would be their “biggest obstacle yet,” according to Briana Klock ’27. The team bonded over watching Miracle on Ice, inspired by the story of an underdog overcoming immense odds. Athletes described the atmosphere before the meet as tense but exciting. “We were locked as heck,” said Klock. Coach Petitt was also gearing up for an intense meet, as Annabel Bailey ’27 described: “It was his goal since last year to beat Conestoga.”
Julia Lenoard ’27, a diver, described how “every single person counted; if I had gotten one place lower, we couldn’t have won.” Although every event contributed to the meet score, certain events were extremely competitive—mainly, the 400-meter free relay. Swimmers Klock, Katie Potts-Drew ’26, Anna Stark ’29, and Annabel Bailey ’27 swam hard to pull off a first-place finish. LM’s B-relay, the second fastest relay team of swimmers, also pushed the team closer to winning the meet, with a third-place finish. LM secured the fourth-place spot as well. Scores were tight throughout the entire meet, but LM secured a win by a two-point margin, shattering Conestoga’s streak and maintaining LM’s undefeated season.
The next dual meet against Garnet Valley passed smoothly, with LM securing yet another win. The Central League championships were up next, with each team from the region competing instead of a typical dual meet with two schools. This meant that LM was once again matched with their biggest competition and most intense rival: Conestoga. After the team huddled up and shared a rousing cheer, according to Bailey, “Coach Pettit got the team fired up to win. He said, ‘We didn’t start this season to win; we started to dominate.’” After an undefeated season, LM girls’ swim put the finishing crown on their achievements by becoming Central League champions. Selected swimmers advanced to district championships, where LM placed 6th. From those who competed at districts, the fastest will qualify for states, hoping to cement new records for LM girls’ swim.
