From the archives: For its 60th year The Falcon is presenting a series of stories reflecting on some of the most interesting moments in the school’s history. This issue’s story is about the boys’ swim team winning first in the country.

On Sep. 5, 2009, Swimming World Magazine deemed the Saratoga High boys’ swim team the Swimming World High Schools Team of the Year.

Although the title was a surprise, the team worked hard and showed their true passion at the CCS meet earlier that year, where they ended the season with several national record breaking relays and times.

Alumnus Ben Hinshaw carried the team as he finished in the top four in four events, placing second in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley, which  consists of all four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breastroke and freestyle.

Saratoga High beat Baylor High in Tennessee by 9.5 points for team of the year. This was calculated from the totaled number of points throughout league meets and the 2008 May CCS swimming tournament around the country, simulating a national meet. 

Under swimming coach Christian Bonner, the team won second in CCS against Bellarmine swimmers, but two Bellarmine students were in the top 16 list of finalists in CCS while five Saratoga students placed in the national top five, giving the Falcons the national champions title.

This account is a summary of an article from the September 25, 2009 from the print edition of The Falcon. The original story was written by Tom Rollinson.