Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Franklin Regional’s Ben Holm

By: Anthony DiFilippo
Monday, February 26, 2024 | 11:36 AM

Franklin Regional’s boys swimming and diving team captured its 28th section title this season, a year after capturing No. 27.

The Panthers finished 5-0 with a one-game edge over the second-place finisher, Penn-Trafford.

This year, Franklin Regional has a new coach in Dan Taylor. He took over after Vic Santoro resigned after last season.

Senior swimmer Ben Holm described what Taylor brings to the table.

“Dan has been a wonderful coach this year because he realizes our strengths and weaknesses and designs our practices around them so we are always improving,” Holm said.

Holm is the younger brother of Owen, who swam until his graduation in 2022.

A big event this season was the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Meet, which took place at the end of January.

Individually, Holm finished second in the 50 freestyle 100 freestyle events, and the loss in the 50 came by two one-hundredths of a second.

“At counties, I was getting over a sickness and gave everything I had in all my swims,” Holm said. “It sucks that I got out touched in my 50, but there’s nothing to do but move on.”

Holm was part of a win as well as the 200 freestyle relay team took home the gold medal.

He was also on the medley relay team that took silver.

The team’s regular season and WCCA success were attributed to the same things, Holm said.

“We always have a good chance of winning (the) section each year because our team has so much depth,” he said. “Our team has such good relays because our team has a ton of depth.”

That depth is going to be put to the test when the WPIAL and PIAA championships take place over the next month.

Holm is going to swim at IUP while pursuing a degree in computer science.

This week, he took some time for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:

How did you get started with swimming?

I got started swimming when I was 6 because both of my older brothers were doing it.

How do you think the season is going so far?

I have high hopes for this season so far. My freestyle events have definitely showed improvement compared to last season.

What are your goals for the rest of the year?

My goals for the rest of the season are to make states in a relay and in both the 100 free and 200 free.

What was the recruitment process like?

I chose IUP because when I was on my recruiting trip I really liked the environment the team created.

What is one thing that people may not know about you?

I am very passionate about my music taste.

Tags: Franklin Regional