CFNN Reporters Amelia Osornio and Lucy Brinker

The Cape Fear Swim Team is diving back into the pool once again for the start off 2025-2026 season. The Colts had a great season last year with the girls team taking home 1st at the conference championship and the boys team taking home 2nd place. 

Last year the team had 13 swimmers qualify for regionals, which is over half of the team. Swimmers qualified for relays as well as individually. There were 4 seniors, 6 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 1 freshman. All 13 swimmers did such a fantastic job closing out the season.

This year’s head coach is Zachary Woolard, this will be his 3rd year coaching the swim team. He is a teacher at Mac Williams Middle School and teaches 6th grade math. Last season, he was able to keep the team afloat and secured the top spot at conference. 

This year we have 7 returning boys. Leading the team will be: Senior Nick Serbio, swimming the 500yd freestyle; Junior Declan McGarry, swimming the 50yd freestyle; and the Sophomores, Landon Anderson, swimming the 100yd backstroke; Luke Bailey, swimming the 200yd freestyle, Isaak Fick swimming the 100yd breastroke; Aiden Hale, 50yd freestyle; and Kai Lambert the 100yd freestyle.

We have 6 girls returning to the pool. The Seniors include Anamarie Brenes, swimming the 500yd freestyle; Dani Fick, swimming the 100yd breaststroke; Lainey Williams, swimming 100yd butterfly; and Senior Amelia Osornio, swimming 100yd backstroke. Also returning for another swim are Junior Lucy Brinker, swimming 100yd freestyle, and Sophomore Izzy Kelley, who will be swimming the 100yd freestyle.

We have some promising newcomers this year and can’t wait to see what they bring to the team. This year there are 2 new boys, Mason Branch and Armani Cuevas. There are also 7 new additions to the girls team: Amelia Cook, Olivia Cain, Allison Chesher, Tessa Vann, Kinsley Feldman, Shaddai Ponce, Oliva Sidebothom, Annabelle Franklin. This will be an exciting year for the swim team with all the new people the team has added.

“Even though we lost multiple strong swimmers last year I believe that we can push through and have an even stronger team. We gained a lot of new swimmers, some of which had never swam before but have natural talent. When the conference was switched we didn’t know how it would impact us but looking at the score of their past meet I believe we have a good chance of winning,” said Anamarie.

This year the team size has increased which means there will be some expectations to uphold. We expect the team to attend all practices, put in consistent effort, and focus on improving everyday. The team should expect to be positive even through hard meets and practices. These expectations are the backbone of having a good season, the swim team will continuously work on staying up to stand to ensure we stay conference champions for another year.

“I hope the winds stay down so the dome stays up. Without the dome we can’t practice which will hinder our ability to maintain our practice schedule. I’m positive that our team will continue to work hard until the end of the season. I can’t wait to see how the team does at our first meet,” said Coach Woolard.

This is going to be a thrilling season for the Colts, we are so excited to see the swim team dive into a new season with their first meet being held at Fayetteville State University on Thursday, November 20th starting at 5:30pm. Come out and support your Colts!