INDIANAPOLIS –On Saturday the Carmel Girls Swimming and Diving team won their 33rd straight State Championship! Let me say that again playa because you think that I’m playing. They won their 33rd straight state championship which dates back to the 1986-87 school year. That’s NUTS!!! Who dominates a sport like that EVER? I’m talking high school, college or pro? Well…THE CARMEL GREYHOUNDS do that’s who!!!
No other team in the history of team sports has done what they’ve done. Are you kidding me? Every time there is a conversation about dynasties in the state of Indiana at the high school level folks land on Marion Basketball with Jay Edwards and Lyndon Jones and Co. winning three in a row. Then everybody jumps to Gary Roosevelt’s boys track and field teams that won 9 straight from 1981 to 1989.
Sure, we always hear about the dynasty at Warren Central in football from 2003-2012 when they had a record of 110-23 and winning 5 state titles or during that same period of time Cathedral popped off a record of 105-28 winning 5 state titles. Boyz even throw in Bishop Chatard’s 123-23 record during the same period and winning 6 titles. However, none of those can compare to what Carmel’s accomplished. 33 straight?!!! Get outta here!!!
Even if we’re talking about consecutive state titles there isn’t anybody in the picture frame of what Carmel is doing. The next most dominant school in terms of consecutive state titles in Indiana is Muncie Burris with 14 volleyball state titles. Carmel has won 33 in a row!! There are grown folks with kids that were just being born when that streak started. That’s incredible!!!
We often talk about what John Wooden did at UCLA winning 10 national titles in a row but Carmel girls swimming and diving has won more than 3 times that many in a row. Are you comprehending what I’m telling you?
Bill Russell won 11 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics but they only won 8 of those in a row before having to start over. Yes, I realize that you can’t compare college and pro sports to high school sports but the magnitude of what Carmel has accomplished is ridiculous. At least in college those big time programs get to recruit all over the country to bring in the very best players and athletes. In the pros they’re all professionals! In high school you get what shows up.
Even when we look at the most state titles by schools in Indiana, Carmel has won 147 and the next closest school is North Central with 61. I thought that my alma mater, Gary Roosevelt, was doing something with 25 but that’s nothing compared to the numbers Carmel is putting up.
Not only have they been so dominant over the past 33 years but the bigger problem is that it’s not slowing down any time soon. They’ve got a stable of swimmers coming right behind this group.
They won the title on Saturday in an ABSOLUTE rout!!! They scored a total of 413 points to win the title. If you had put the runner-up and third-place teams on the same team they still wouldn’t have won the title. Their point-totals were 167.5 and 165 which totals 332.5. Incredible!!!
So my point here is to put into perspective the greatness of the Carmel Girls Swimming and Diving program. Major shout to what you continue to accomplish every year and keep up the OUTSTANDING work. Stop me when I start lyin’!