Hopewell Swimming
Congrats to Hopewell Swim Team Standouts Hazel McCowin and Lindsey Brown
Hopewell High School’s duo of swimming “Vi-Queens” represented the district with distinction in the PIAA Swimming Championships this weekend at Bucknell University. Hazel McCowin and Lindsey Brown joined the fastest swimmers in the commonwealth for the two-day event.
“I know a lot of the names of the girls we spent time with on deck here,” Hazel said, “and I’ve already swam against many of them in club swimming events in recent years. But it’s great to see everyone here for this Pennsylvania-only meet and to have the chance to represent my school.”
These Hopewell swimmers weren’t awestruck by the competition, however, as they brought their top-tier game to Bucknell. In PIAA Championship events the field is limited to 32 qualifiers from the state, with only 16 advancing from the morning preliminary round to the evening’s finals.
Lindsey Brown is a sprint-specialist, whose best events are the 50 free and 100 free, the two most competitive events in the sport at the high school level. To qualify for states in either one is a major accomplishment. At Bucknell, Lindsey swam the 100 free in 55.65 seconds, finishing at 27th in the state overall.
Hazel McCowin is a backstroker who strategically focused this high school season on other events, qualifying for the state championship in both the 200 Individual Medley(IM) and the 500 freestyle.
In the 500 free, Hazel moved up a couple of spots from her entry seed to finish 24th in the state. And in the 200 IM she nearly equalled her personal record in qualifying for finals, where she earned a position of 14th overall, including “All-State Honorable Mention.”
Hopewell Varsity Swim Coach Kathi Lopez has been beaming with excitement all weekend, with the phrase “so proud” uttered most frequently.
Congratulations Coach Lopez, Lindsey, and Hazel!
