As fate would have it, Freedom High School's boys swimming meet against Parkland came down to the final event of the night, the 400 free relay, but it was the Patriots who scored a long-awaited victory over the Trojans, 96.5-88.5 last Thursday.

"It felt great after them being so dominant in the league for the past decade or so. We finally achieved it for the team," said Freedom senior, Peter Conzola.

Although the Patriots were ahead before the relay, the Trojans could have tied the final meet score with a first-place finish.

"It was probably a lot of pressure, but a good kind of pressure. It got us fired up behind the blocks. It was a race we knew we could definitely win," Conzola said.

Conzola led off, followed by Shjon Watlington and Connor Harrigan. Sam Magnan swam in the anchor position.

Conzola said, "After the first leg, we were just about even. In the second, we started to pull away. The last two expanded the lead."

The Patriots' time was 3:22.64. The Trojans' placed second in 3:26.35.

Conzola, Harrigan, Magnan, and Trevor Watlington opened the meet with a 1:46.08 victory in the 200 medley relay, and Shjon Watlington, Tyley Higgins, John McGinty, and Brandon Burnette just missed a first-place finish in the 200 free relay by .94 seconds.

Individual event winners for Freedom were Magnan in the 200 free with a time of 1:45.72 and the 500 free with a time of 4:34.55, Conzola in the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.31 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.03, and Trevor Watlington in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.86.

In girls swimming, Parkland defeated Freedom 123-63.

In individual events, Helen Hsu won the 200 free in 1:53.71 and the 100 free in 51.95, and Shannon Howell took first place in the 50 free in 25.14, both for the Patriots.

Hsu and Howell also combined with Carly DelFranco and Rachael Giles to win the 200 free relay in 1:42.36.