It only took a fraction of a second for the relay to take a turn for the worst. A split second where Coppell sophomore swimmer Nathan Kim was still in the water while junior swimmer Scott Moyer was starting. The split second made the difference, and with it, Coppell’s 200-meter freestyle relay team was disqualified. 

“Individually, I ended up dropping time,” Moyer said. “I dropped 0.3 seconds which is significant for a 50 [meter freestyle] but the relay as a team got disqualified because of my false start.”

The Coppell swimming team ended its season after advancing none of its competitors past the Class 6A Region II Swimming and Diving Championships at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatic Center on Saturday.

Those who advanced to regionals were freshman swimmer Katelyn Jost, who swam the 200 and 500-meter freestyle, junior swimmer Nathan Lim, who swam the 100-yard breaststroke, and the 200-meter freestyle relay team, which was composed of Moyer and Kim as well as sophomore swimmers Asher Johnson and Johnathan Ting. 

Lim finished in fourth place with a time of 1:00.22. Jost finished the 500 meter freestyle in seventh with a time of  5:11 and the 200-meter freestyle in sixth with a school record-breaking time of 1:56.44.

“I was pretty happy with how I did in both [events] considering I’m a freshman and it was my first regionals ever,” Jost said. 

With UIL’s new rules regarding the amount of students that could qualify for regionals this year, limiting the number from eight to six due to COVID-19, Coppell could not take all the swimmers it wanted to.

Swimming at the Westside Aquatic Center, however, was a better experience for racing as compared to the YMCA due to the nicer facilities and colder pool temperatures.

“It’s hard to explain but it feels so much better swimming at a colder pool whenever you race,” Lim said. “The Westside Aquatic Center is much more preferable for racing than the [YMCA].”

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