One shot; one opportunity; and the Utica Boys’ Swim Team didn’t miss a lick of it. During the 2022-23 season, the team consisted of just eleven swimmers and was bumped down to MAC Gold for the following year. After a, to say the least, surprising surplus in signups, the 2023-24 season put Utica back on people’s radars as a force to be reckoned with.
Last year, the Utica boys won the MAC Gold Division Championship meet with 498 points; beating the second-place team, Cousino High School, by well over 100 points. After the season concluded, the team was ranked to MAC Blue but was petitioned up to MAC White due to the school’s population.
“The white division has more experienced and competitive swimmers than in gold, that’s the big challenge. At the beginning of the season my goal was to not get last place, now we’re looking at top three,” coach Joe Michol said. “The boys really stepped up. In my thirty-one years of coaching, this is by far the most improved team I’ve ever had.”
Throughout the season, Utica won dual meets against Chippewa Valley, Warren Wood Tower, and Saint Clair, all of which are MAC White teams and were previously expected losses. Utica had flipped the script, going from sixth place to third out of nowhere. The team held a 3-2 division record and a 7-4 overall record at the end of the season.
The Macomb County Championship meet was extremely telling of the team’s progression. In 2024, Utica competed at the meet with only one individual event swimmer, current senior Michael Schunck, in the 50-yard freestyle. This year, however, ten athletes from Utica qualified with sixteen entries in individual events.
“Counties was a lot better of a team bonding experience this year,” Schunck said. “It felt less lonely.”
The Macomb County Championship was February 6th through the 7th. Diving preliminaries and finals took place on the first day; all swimming events took place the next. Utica High School placed ninth at the meet, up from sixteenth in 2024. Individuals who went above and beyond to qualify and compete at this meet include sophomores Brendan Pittel, Garet Gertsch, and Carter Austin, junior Thomas Schoenherr, and seniors Matteo Galui, Michael Schunck, Brendan Froberger, Gavin Frandle, Matthew Elechicon, Krew Hartman, and Drew Belisle. The Chieftains had at least one entry in all twelve events at this meet and scored points in ten of them.
“I was very happy that I qualified,” Elechicon said. “I think it was so exciting because it’s my last year. I don’t get that chance again.”
Alongside the outstanding performances in the individual events, Utica’s relay teams made waves. The 200-yard medley relay team placed sixth with a time of 1:52.11 and personal record splits from all four swimmers. The 400-yard freestyle relay team finished ranking eighth with a time of 3:51.04, which is 38.33 seconds faster than the team’s time in 2024. Meanwhile, the most exciting relay this season came from the 200-yard freestyle relay team, who began to close in on the Utica High School record. Froberger, Frandle, Schoenherr, and Schunck placed fifth in the county with a time of 1:37.03, a mere 1.84 seconds away from the school record set back in 2018.
The MAC White Division Championship followed soon after. The meet was held February 27th through March 1st. Diving preliminaries took place on Thursday, swimming preliminaries took place on Friday, and finals for both were on Saturday.
On Thursday, Belisle kicked off the meet, representing Utica at diving preliminaries. He scored 181.85 points, seeding him in sixth place. On Saturday, he scored 254.85 points, maintaining his spot on the leaderboard and gaining 13 points for Utica High School’s final score.
At preliminaries, Utica started out strong and planned to finish even stronger. Friday started off with four swimmers qualifying for A final in their respective events during the first half of the meet. Froberger in the 200-yard freestyle and Schunck, Schoenherr, and Frandle in the 50-yard freestyle.
In the second half of preliminaries, another eight Utica swimmers qualified for A final in individual events. Schoenherr and Pittel in the 100-yard butterfly, Froberger, Frandle, and Schunck in the 100-yard freestyle, Galui in the 500-yard freestyle, Pittel in the 100-yard backstroke, as well as Elechicon and Gertsch in the 100-yard breaststroke. All three Utica relay teams were also seeded top three based on their preliminary times.
“At first I didn’t think we’d do too well,” senior Jordan Fernandez said. “But seeing the dual meets and seeing how well the swim team performs, especially in the white division, I think we did pretty good in the championship.”
The Chieftains’ performance on Friday placed them above Warren Wood Tower, Saint Clair, and Chippewa Valley going into finals. Spotlight preliminary swims came from Pittel, Gertsch, Schoenherr, Froberger, Schunck, and Frandle.
Pittel put the underclassmen swimmers on the map with his swim in the 100-yard backstroke. He placed third in preliminaries with a personal record time of 1:04.31. Alongside him, Gertsch had an outstanding performance in the 100-yard breaststroke, also placing third with a personal record time of 1:08.93.
“Considering my last season, I was able to drop a lot of time and show a lot of improvement throughout,” said Pittel. “I’m proud of how the whole season went overall.”
The upperclassmen raised the stakes for the competitors as well. Froberger secured a third-place seed in both the 200-yard freestyle, with a time of 2:04.02, and in the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 53.48. The 200-yard freestyle relay team took the pool by storm with a first-place finish. They concluded the race in 1:36.47, 0.56 seconds ahead of their county meet time.
“We all really wanted the record, we worked for it all season, and we wanted to have our names on the board,” Frandle said. “All I knew is that I had to go faster for my team.”
On Saturday, Utica hit the ground running in the first half of the meet. The Chieftains kicked off the morning with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Composed of Pittel, Galui, Schoenherr, and Schunck, the relay finished with a time of 1:51.59, down 0.52 seconds from their county meet time. Froberger earned another personal record time, 2:02.35, in the 200-yard freestyle. Moreover, Schunck, Frandle, and Schoenherr took fourth, fifth, and seventh place in the 50-yard freestyle; making Utica take up a majority of the event’s medalists.
In the bottom half of finals, Utica amplified the energy. Schoenherr and Pittel took sixth and seventh in the 100-yard butterfly. Froberger rose to second place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.22. Additionally, in the 500-yard freestyle, Galui went from sixth in the preliminaries to fifth in the finals, finishing in 5:52.07.
“It was hard to qualify,” Galui said. “But once I qualified, I knew I would get a medal and then I swam as hard as I could the next day”
The 200-yard freestyle relay team continued their hot streak, upholding their first place seed with a time of 1:35.69. Their finals time was just 0.50 seconds off of the Utica record; they only had one more chance to obtain it.
“I think if they really put their minds to it, that record is theirs,” coach Joe Michol said. “They’d have to execute every start and turn perfectly, but I think they could do it.”
When the championship concluded, Utica placed third overall with a total of 318 points. Utica’s head coach, Joe Michol, was recognized for his hard work as he was awarded MAC White coach of the year. His tenacity was poured into the team, and their accomplishments were a projection of that.
“I think Joe deserves it more than any other coach,” sophomore Brendan Pittel said. “Because he was able to take our group, with very little experience, and make them into the team we have now that was able to compete so well in MAC White.”
On March 4th, the team traveled to L’Anse Creuse North for the Last Chance Invitational meet. Some swimmers tried new events, others shot for personal records in their main ones, but all eyes were on the 200-yard freestyle relay. The 2018 Utica record was crushed by the Chieftains that night. Froberger, Frandle, Schoenherr, and Schunck hit the touch pad, finishing with a time of 1:34.46. Down 1.23 seconds from division finals and 0.73 seconds under the record, the team roared with excitement.
“When we broke the record, I was just so proud of my whole team and how much we improved over the past three years I’ve been swimming,” said Schunck.
With a season full of surprises, determination, and a record-breaking swim, the Utica Boys’ Swim Team proved that hard work pays off. From underdogs to medalists, they defied supposition at every turn. As the seniors move on, the passion and exuberance they leave behind fuels the younger generation of Chieftain swimmers; Utica’s rise is far from over. If this team can do anything, it is drowning expectations.
