With their backs against the wall and all the momentum on Barrington’s side, Fremd had to conjure some magic in order to hold off a strong Broncos performance in a home meet on Dec. 7. Fremd’s teams maintained consistency throughout their events which helped them compete their best with Barrington’s unit although they eventually fell short of a win.

The team’s record on the year moves to 1-1, this loss following a season-opening triumph over Rolling Meadows. Fremd moves on hoping to recover from a tough loss which helped them narrow their focus of where they need to improve.

Fremd’s experienced swimmers helped motivate the younger members of the squad throughout the meet. In a team event, juniors Sean Warner, Kyle Martin, Brandon Vera and Kevin Han finished sixth in the 200 yard freestyle relay.

Fremd individual winners included senior Yoochan Lee in the 100 yard freestyle; sophomore Hayden Kim in the Frosh-Soph 100 yard breaststroke; Kim in the 200 yard individual medley; and sophomore Joseph Farrell in the Frosh-Soph 200 yard freestyle.

In the team events, a team comprised of sophomores Nathan Spiekermann, Thomas Brinckerhoff and Kim and freshman Ryan Yoon finished first in the 200 yard free relay for the Frosh-Sophs.

Junior James Steininger finished second in the 200 yard individual medley, while senior Yoochan Lee won the 100 yard freestyle.

Fremd controlled the diving portion with ease, with junior Dan Narey, senior Christian Zukowski and senior Brennan Barrett finishing 1-2-3 and leading the way to victory for the varsity squad. Their stellar diving performance was assisted by a brilliant Frosh-Soph outcome.

Sophomore Aidan McCall won the Frosh-Sophomore diving competition and Brian Higgins finished third as Fremd won the F-S diving portion.

The final score was 98-88 as Fremd fell in a close contest for its first loss of the season. It was Fremd’s first loss to Barrington in four seasons.

Despite the outcome, Kittrell loves his team’s perseverance and commitment to improvement as an entire unit.

“I would say how proud I was of the boys’ effort, their commitment to one another and how excited they are for the rest of the season,” Kittrell said. “The boys fight well, they fight together and they do a really wonderful job of supporting one another.”

Kittrell was pleased with his team’s performance as a whole.

“I thought our boys rose to the occasion in a number of different opportunities but I think one of the most exciting things was how hard they pushed themselves,” Kittrell said. “There was nothing left to give, and as a coach, you just want to see them compete until the very last moment and that’s what they did.”

Junior Brandon Vera encapsulated his praise for the opponent and Fremd’s preparation which led up to the meet.

“The team’s performance was amazing… we could have been fully rested but I feel like we still went hard on our practices that week before the meet. Barrington was tough, we knew from the start that Barrington would be our strongest competition in the conference. We came in with a strategy that seemed to work and that is how we were able to obtain points for each race.”

Fremd’s future is bright based off of a multitude of standout performances in Frosh-Soph events and diving. The effort and intensity on display on Friday night must continue for Fremd to reach its season goals of producing the best possible outcome every single meet. The Vikings must control what they can control and ignore external factors and distractions while narrowing their focus on the goals awaiting them which need fulfillment.

Kittrell is confident that his team, which is heavy on sophomores and juniors, will improve as the year progresses, which bodes well for Fremd’s future. The Vikings can do their best to succeed by bringing Friday’s performance to every meet and maintaining consistency during each and every meet.

The boys’ next meet is at home on Friday against Schaumburg where they will attempt to rebound from their first defeat of the year.