CHESTERLAND— The Hawken girls swim team is still celebrating their OHSAA Division II championship. They captured the title in Canton February 22.

• For more than two decades the Hawken girls swim team has dominated Division II swimming
• The team won their 21st straight state title
• The team says the key to its success is its family environment

“Friday that was a bit crazy, it was quite the world wind, to look back on it,” said Abby Hay, Hawken School senior. “It was just so much emotion, especially since it was my last one before going off to college… just being with the girls and having them support me was the greatest feeling ever.”

“It’s 21 years of excellence. It started long before I got here,” said Hawken Head Swim Coach Todd Clark. “Jerry Holtree, being the head coach, and my mentor and the guy that made it all happen, and kids just come here and want to be part of the excellence and they know before they get here we’re a hard working team, that’s really our key, we are hard-working.”

 This is is the team’s 21st straight state title.

“We did above and beyond what I expected. It was fantastic and it’s great to feel that you are a part of that history,” said Libby Miller, co-captain.

“It’s an awesome accomplishment for our team,” said Ella Gilson, Hawken sophomore. “It’s amazing we have the longest streak in Ohio for sports and it’s just insane that our team has been able to keep that for so many years.” 

The swim team and their coaches say the secret to their success is that they are more than just a swim team— they’re family.

“As a senior, our class was small… we really tried to create that family atmosphere so there wasn’t a lot of tension like there are on some other teams,” Gilson said. “We are all teenage girls, so there’s got to be some drama to keep things interesting.  But we really try to mentor the freshman and give them good role models to look up to make sure that everything is good for them and I think we did a really good of that this year, and it really showed in our cohesiveness of our team,” Gilson said.

“That’s one of our big deals is right away you belong to the family, literally like being born into the family,” said Clark. “We treat you well, want you to be a part of what we do. We don’t have any traditions that you earn your way into the team. You walk through that door, we accept, we hug you, keep you close and help you out the whole way.”

Based on their record, the Hawken ladies seem destined to be back again next year. Additionally, The boys team finished as state runners-up, their fourth top-two finish in the last five years.