Patriots, Jets dive into new swim season

MADISON- The splashes and waves within the local swimming pools continue to batter those taking a dip as the 2025 high school swim and dive season is now underway. Both Bob Jones and James Clemens have well established programs and each squad is looking for success in the latest campaign of the fall sport.

Bob Jones

The Patriots dive into the new season as three-time defending Class 7A State Champions in girls with the boys’ team finishing fourth a year ago.

The Lady Patriots return four medal winners from last year’s state title winning team led by junior Abby Chan who won gold medals in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke individual events and was part of two relay squads which also took home medals in last year’s State Meet. Senior Meli Mbuko also brought back several medals from the season-ending State Meet winning the 50 freestyle individual race and also first place finishes in two relay events. Isabelle Park returns this season as the senior won two gold medals last year as part of two relays teams. One additional senior on this year’s squad returns with success from a season ago, as Emilie Tesseneer was part of the 400 freestyle relay team which won a gold medal and also won a silver medal in her individual 100 backstroke race.

In all, the Lady Patriots have five senior members, three juniors and seven sophomores along with 10 swimmers in grades 7-9. The members of the diving team include Dixie Lyle, Abigail Wilkerson and Brynna Koehler.

The boys return just one senior, Duncan Baker, who is also team captain, from a year ago while junior William Yang is the lone member of this year’s squad who had a medal- winning performance at last season’s State Meet. He won a gold medal as part of the 200 freestyle relay team. The remaining roster includes four juniors, one sophomore and 17 swimmers in classes 7-9. Divers for the Patriots this season include Simon Crews, Quentin Hamilton and Russell Magonial.

The latest season also includes a new head coach at Bob Jones. Dave Berry takes over the position of leading the program after the last two seasons were led by Ryan Rhoades who moved to another state after the completion of the 2024-2025 school year. The 65-year old Berry is a 30year resident of Madison and a longtime swim coach and at one time a volunteer coach for the Patriots.

“Board members who swim alongside me on the Masters Swim Team approached me and asked if I was interested in the position vacated by Ryan,” said Berry. “I agreed to do so. I’ve been through all of the required school system training and background checks and I’m ready for the challenge.”

He is clear on his coaching style and goals as he said he fosters swimmers’ growth in the four key areas of competence, character, connection and confidence. He understands the recent success of the Bob Jones team as the girls are three-time defending State Champions and the boys have finished among the top four programs in Alabama the last two years under Rhoades. Berry jumps into the some of the unknown waters of coaching, but with enormous numbers of swimmers and divers to choose from, he will enjoy having so many to help welcome him to his new position.

One fun fact again this year for Bob Jones is the fact there are several families making up much of the rosters. Those include: Frailie, Kuang, MacKrell, Mbuko and Yang.

James Clemens

Kelly Davis returns for her third season as head coach of the Jets swim and dive team with her youngest team within her tenure as head coach. She welcomes six seniors, one junior and 13 sophomores to the roster in 2025 with 17 additional team members in grades 7-9.

Returning from the boys team, which finished third in Alabama at the 2024 State Meet, are three seniors and one freshman who took home medals for their performances a season ago. The Jets are led by senior Christian Wester who came home from the season finale with four medals. He won gold medals in both the 200 IM and 100 backstroke while also picking up silver medals in two relay races. Fellow senior Will Ross was also part of the silver medal winning 200 medley relay squad from last year. A freshman this year, Brody Tindoll also helped the relay squad to a runner-up position last season. Additional senior for the Jets is Emanuel Torres (100 butterfly and 50 freestyle).

For the girls, a fifth place finish in 2024, three seniors who pulled points a year ago return. The eldest of the Lady Jets include Tatum Scully a gold medal winner in the 500 freestyle and a silver medal in the 200 freestyle. Also returning for her final season of talents showcase is Laurel Hunter who took runner-up in the one-meter diving competition last year’s State Meet. Hunter is expected to make a serious run at a gold medal in 2025. Hayden Southern (50 freestyle and 200 freestyle) rounds out the returning seniors for James Clemens.

“Though with our smallest number of seniors, this is a powerful team with a lot of potential,” added Davis. “All of our seniors are on target to make state qualifying in multiple events and relays.”

As the only diver on the James Clemens swim and dive team, Hunter is on the path to a possible Class 7A state title in the one-meter dive competition in 2025. As defending state runner- up, Hunter dove into the current season as the expected top diver in Alabama for the current high school season and has prepared to perform her best dives in that quest for her senior season.

A fun fact about the 2025 Jets is the Scully family has four members on the roster. Besides Tatum (Sr.), the family is represented by Sebastian (So.), Fiona (Fr.) and Windsor (seventh).