Small Hampton swimming roster out to make big splash in postseason

By: John Grupp
Saturday, January 18, 2025 | 11:01 AM

The Hampton girls swimming team is counting on quality over quantity this season.

With a shorthanded but gifted roster of only a dozen swimmers, the Talbots are looking to move up at the WPIAL Class 2A championships after last season’s seventh-place finish.

“We are a high-quality team in terms of our ability and skill set,” said interim coach Jasper Jurman, elevated to the top spot this season while coach Morgan Zweygardt is on maternity leave. “We’re just not the biggest team out there.”

Hampton has its share of star power, with standout junior Lainey Sheets, the WPIAL Class 2A defending champion in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke, and junior Gabriella Elk, the reigning WPIAL diving champion and PIAA runner-up.

The Talbots also return seniors Kevyn Fish and Maya Daughtery and junior Libby Sheets, who, along with twin sister Lainey, make up the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams that finished in the top five at the 2024 WPIAL championships.

“Our team is small but mighty,” said Libby Sheets, a PIAA qualifier in the 100 backstroke and 200 IM. “All of the girls on our team are quality. They are hard workers. They are positive. I think even though we are small, we have a lot to offer.”

Lainey Sheets, already the fastest girls swimmer in program history, won’t be able to defend her 200 IM title after suffering a torn ACL away from the pool this summer. She underwent surgery and has returned to competition, but the injury prevents her from doing the breaststroke this season, meaning the four-stroke IM is off the table.

“Other than breaststroke, she is pretty much able to compete in everything else,” Jurman said. “She is doing really well with her recovery, so we’re not pushing it too much.”

Lainey Sheets, the 2024 PIAA runner-up in the 100 backstroke, is expected to compete in the 100 back, the 200 medley and 400 free relays as well as another to-be-determined individual event at the WPIAL championships Feb. 27-28 at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

Considering she owns the school record in five events — the 100 freestyle, 200 free, 100 back, 100 butterfly and 200 IM — Sheets has options.

“Backstroke is not a problem at all,” Jurman said. “Right now, the focus is putting attention toward her recovery and not necessarily putting a whole lot of pressure on going certain times. We want her getting back to being healthy and where she was before.”

The girls finished seventh at WPIALs last season but were only 11 points out of third place. Fish, who was top 10 in the 100 back, and Daugherty, top 10 in the 100 breast, are motivated for their final seasons, and Elk, only the second WPIAL diving champion in program history, provides an early points boost.

“I think this year we are going to have a couple of more girls going to WPIALs,” Libby Sheets said. “We didn’t have as many girls going to WPIALs in individual events last year. I think that’s going to help. We are all excited to get there.”

The Hampton boys are in the same boat as the girls. They have only 11 swimmers on the roster, led by senior Chris Belch, who last season placed third in the 100 fly and 100 back at the WPIALs and top six in the state.

“Chris is always working hard and doing a good job, in and out of the pool,” Jurnan said. “I can only imagine we will see positive results from him at the end of the year.”

The boys also returned a trio of other PIAA qualifiers: seniors Wil Cramer (200 IM) and Scott Watkins (relays) and sophomore Connor Sutterlin (200 IM, 100 fly).

Hampton, the 2021 and ’22 WPIAL Class 2A team champion, looks to contend in the 200 medley relay, where Cramer joins Belch, Watkins and Sutterlin on a team that placed third at WPIALs and sixth at states.

Freshman Isaac Retsch, the younger brother of Hampton state champion Will Retsch, already has qualified for WPIALs in the 500 free.

“We’re on track for where we need to be at the end of the season,” Jurman said. “As long as we go in and do the best we can, that’s all I can ask.”

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