See all of our 2023 Swammy Awards here.
2023 HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS OF THE YEAR: CARMEL (IN) GIRLS / KELLER (TX) BOYS
The Carmel High School girls extended their historic winning streak to 37 Indiana state titles in a row while a new boys powerhouse emerged out of Texas this year.
Let’s start with the Carmel girls: They won 10 events and scored 498 at the Indiana High School State Championships in February, both of which marked meet records. Top 2025 recruit Alex Shackell set state records in the 50-yard freestyle (21.93) and 100 butterfly (50.89) while contributing to national high school records in the 200 medley relay (1:36.98) and 200 free relay (1:30.23) along with Molly Sweeney and Meghan Christman.
Lynsey Bowen swept the 200 free and 500 free, the latter in another state record of 4:42.81, while Sweeney became the first freshman in a decade to win multiple individual titles (200 IM and 100 breast). Berit Berglund won her fourth 100 back title in a row — just the 12th swimmer in meet history to go 4-for-4 in an event — before joining the University of Texas roster this fall.
Carmel’s 37 consecutive state titles in girls swimming represents a national record for longest streak in any sport. The squad was awarded USA Today’s “Team of the Year” this summer for its incredible run of dominance.
Now to the new kid on the block: the Keller boys.
After finishing 15th at last year’s Texas 6A State Championships, Keller won its first-ever title thanks in large part to the arrival of sophomore Maximus Williamson, who led Southlake Carroll to the 2022 crown as a freshman. Williamson, a University of Virginia commit, came within a second of the oldest national high school record on the books in the 200 IM (1:42.17) while adding another individual victory in the 100 back (47.24).
Fellow U.S. National Junior Team member Cooper Lucas joined Williamson with multiple individual wins in the 200 free (1:35.34) and 500 free (4:19.40). He also led Keller to its first-ever relay title in the 200 free (1:21.93) with a 20.16 split along with River Paulk (20.50 leadoff), Jacob Fabian (20.81 split), and Riccardo Osio (20.46 split). The squad closed out the meet with another relay title in the 400 free relay (2:58.91) courtesy of Williamson (42.75 leadoff), Lucas (44.26 split), Maxwell Stanislaus (46.26), and Collin Quickstad (45.64).
The future is bright for Keller as only one of the eight swimmers who contributed to the program’s winning relays last season graduated.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Santa Margarita (CA) girls and boys – Just about a month after Carmel became the fastest 200 free relay team at the high school level (1:30.23), Santa Margarita responded by bringing the national standard under 1:30 (1:29.61) for the first time in March before capturing the girls’ fourth CIF state title in a row in May. Only a sophomore, Teagan O’Dell clocked a new national high school record in the 200 IM (1:53.38), set a new California state record in the 100 back (50.96), and anchored the record-breaking 200 free relay with a 21.81 split. Senior Asia Kozan (200 free) and sophomore Gracyn Aquino (50 free) also claimed individual crowns for Santa Margarita while contributing to that record-breaking 200 free relay. On the boys’ side, the Eagles earned their first-ever team title despite not winning a single individual event (and just one relay). The team effort was led by Cal commit Humberto Najera, who tallied runner-up finishes in the 200 IM (1:46.24) and 100 back (47.83).
- Carmel (IN) boys – Aaron Shackell capped his high school career with a national high school record in the 200 free (1:32.85), taking down Carson Foster‘s previous standard of 1:32.99 from 2019. It was the highlight of a stellar meet for the Carmel boys, who cruised to their ninth state title in a row. Shackell added another individual win in the 500 free (4:15.38) while also helping Carmel take the 200 medley relay (1:27.83) and 400 free relay (2:59.52) titles. Carmel senior Sean Sullivan also won an individual title for the Greyhounds, becoming the first swimmer in school history to repeat as champion in the 100 free (44.09).
PREVIOUS WINNERS:
- 2014 Swammy (Split): Chesterton (IN) Boys/Carmel (IN) Girls
- 2015 Swammy: Carmel (IN) Girls
- 2016 Swammy: Carmel (IN) Girls
- 2017 Swammy: Carmel (IN) Girls
- 2018 Swammy: Fossil Ridge (CO) Girls
- 2019 Swammy: Baylor School (TN) Girls
- 2020 Swammy: Carmel (IN) Boys
- 2021 Swammy: Bolles School Boys
- 2022 Swammy: Carmel (IN) Boys
