Holy Innocents' Swimmer is State Champ

By Dunn Neugebauer

Cade Anderson, a senior at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, won the first—and the second—individual male state swim titles in school history Feb. 4 during the state meet at Georgia Tech. Anderson captured the 100-back and the 100-fly in single-A competition.

Anderson's 100-fly time was 48.86; he later turned in a 49.31 in the 100-back to finish off his night at the top of the podium.

"Being a double state champion felt very surreal," he said. "It showed that all my hard work had paid off in this sport in my last year of representing Holy Innocents'. I wouldn't change these last six years for the world."

Anderson also teamed with Ryan Nelli, Sean Brock and Ross Johnson to take fourth in the 200-free relay with a 1:29.54.

He has signed a letter of intent to continue his swim career at the University of Georgia.

Overall, the school's "Aqua Bears" finished up perhaps their best season in HIES swim history Saturday night. The boys took second in their classification and eighth overall, while the girls ended up 14th overall and third among single-A schools.

Freshman Abby Pilkenton, for example, swam her way to the top of the record books, finishing third in the 100-free and fourth in the 200-free. Her times were 52.78 in the 100-free and 1:51.86 in the 200-free.

“What a great end to a great season,” Coach Andy Morrison said. “I couldn’t be more proud—not only of Cade and Abby, but all the swimmers who worked so hard this year. It’s a great time to be an Aqua Bear!”