Gateway’s Hunter Raymer has high expectations for final high school swim season

By: Michael Love
Sunday, November 10, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Hunter Raymer closed out his 2024 high school swim season at the PIAA championships with a pair of medals. The Gateway senior distance specialist took eighth in the Class 3A 200-yard individual medley and came back a day later to place fifth in the 500 freestyle.

The time of 4 minutes, 34.34 seconds in the 500 preliminaries at Bucknell lowered his own school record.

Finishing in 1:53.42 in the 200 IM, also in a prelim swim at states, was just a half second off the school record of 1:52.91 set in 2011 by Pitt graduate, U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, and Gateway Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Luke Nosbisch.

With one final high school season left, Raymer said he is not holding anything back in pursuit of best times and his championship aspirations.

“It was a really good (junior) season for me, but I am not satisfied,” said Raymer, who owns an impressive collection of WPIAL and PIAA medals from his first three varsity seasons with the Gators.

“I definitely want more. I am always setting bigger goals. One of my goals is to be a WPIAL champion again or a state champion. I am going after that with everything I have.”

Raymer said he hopes to get the 200 IM record at the Jim Stacy Memorial High School Winter Championships at the Spire Institute in Ohio on Dec. 21.

The run at states last year followed medal-winning finishes at WPIALs in the 200 IM (third) and 500 free (fourth). He also was a part of the 400 free relay which missed a podium medal by one-half second.

Raymer said he also will go after gold one more time in the 500 and is leading toward returning in the 200 IM. But, he said, the 200 free is in play.

He said it is not an easy thing to become a WPIAL swimming champion. He experienced that championship feeling as a freshman winning the 500 title at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

“I just want to get to where I want to be,” said Raymer who trains every day at Pittsburgh Elite Aquatic Club or with his Gateway teammates.

“I have so many people who I train with who are great motivators for me. They really push me to train hard and give my best effort. In meets, I love to have big-time kids swimming against me in a full field. I want to test myself against the best of the best.”

Raymer said he has his eye on dropping time to challenge the cuts for All-American in the 500 (around 4:28) and the 200 IM (1:51).

Prior success, Raymer said, has him confident going into this season.

“You have to have that confidence built up even when you think the odds are stacked against you when you go into those big swims,” Raymer said.

“That confidence increases when you get a good start off the block.”

Raymer got a chance to test his mettle with swims in the 200 backstroke, the 200 IM and the 100 free at the First Splash meet last month at Moon High School. The event featured many of the top WPIAL names.

“I felt I swam pretty well for where I wanted to be at this point before the (high school) season,” Raymer said.

“It showed me that I am right on track.”

He will hope for some additional good times at a regional meet this weekend in Cincinnati.

The Gateway boys and girls swim teams kick off preseason practices Friday. Raymer said he’s excited for what the teams can do throughout the season leading up to the WPIAL championships in late February.

“I know that we can compete so well,” Raymer said.

“Last year, the boys team only lost two meets. That is great compared to some other schools out there. I believe in all the boys on this team that they can do great things.”

Raymer said he is looking forward to teaming up with his brother Gunner, a junior, one more time.

Gunner Raymer made strides last year as a sophomore and picked up a sixth-place WPIAL medal in the 200 free and added a 10th in the 100 free.

“We’re really close. We’ve swum together our entire lives,” Hunter Raymer said.

“We have that bond. We both like competing when we race each other in practice and meets. I am 100% excited for him and what he can accomplish this season.”

Hunter Raymer said that while he is ready to make his mark in his final high school season, he also is looking forward to making a decision as to where he will continue his swimming career in college.

He said his search is down to Denison, Kenyon, George Washington and Pitt.

“I don’t know how soon that decision will come, but I just want to make sure it will be the best fit for me,” Raymer said.

“All of those schools are great, and I think I would do well at any one of them. I appreciate all of those coaches taking the time to get to know me. It is great to feel wanted like that.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway