McIntosh's swim champs weigh in on 'great meet'

Jack Beall didn’t expect it but his teammate, Ariana Berg, did.

The two McIntosh juniors competed in the Georgia High School State Swimming and Diving Championships last week and came out with individual state titles. Beall took first in the Class A-AAAA division in the 100 yard butterfly (50.42) and the 100 yard backstroke (51.90), while Berg took first in the 100 yard breaststroke.

Both Beall and Berg are also members of the Southern Crescent Aquatic Team.

“I did not expect to win state titles,” said Beall humbly. “I just had a great meet and the right mindset.”

Berg expected to win a state title because she had won a title at the Senior State meet, a competition for club swimming teams. Both swimmers admitted that having competed at the state high school meet at Westminster before prepared them for an atmosphere that can be overwhelming at first. The amount of people at the meet, both ready to compete, and watching from the stands creates a lot of adrenaline for the swimmers and Berg and Beall felt they were able to channel it.

The top seed from the preliminary race for the event gets to choose the song to come out to for the final. Berg chose “Champion in Me” from 3 Doors Down.

“It just got me in the right mindset,” she said. “I just thought to myself I want to be on the stand at the end of this.”
Beall admitted to being nervous every day for the week leading up to the races. He had gone over each event in his head countless times and the pressure continued to mount. To deal with this, Beall tries to get in the best possible mood before each race.

“I joke around with everyone near me, try to be friendly with everyone and get as happy as possible, surround myself with positive energy,” he said.

And then he goes lights out, sprinting as fast as he can, hoping to take such a lead that the people he just made friends with see how far behind they are and give up. Does it work?

“They almost caught up with me this time,” he admitted.

For swimmers like Berg and Beall, and the numerous other high school swimmers that also swim competitively for clubs, much of their lives are spent in the pool. There are seven to eight practices a week and gym workouts 50 weeks a year. The weeks they get off are spring break and the week before school starts.
Summer workouts are doubles. They put in endless hours with the goal of giving as much as possible, bringing them to the point of collapse, and their events are typically over in less than a minute.

“It makes everything in life better because you’ve earned it, you’ve made yourself hurt,” Beall said. Berg agreed. “Just sitting or taking naps feels so good.”

Just don’t expect them to show off at a pool party.

“I’ll just sit by the pool,” Beall said.

The high school swimming season may be over, but the two state champs from McIntosh now look forward to the Southeast Sectionals next weekend and the Junior Nationals two weeks after that. Spring break isn’t too far away though and both have earned their time on dry land.