By Kate Weatherby and Kelly Scollard

“I am absolutely thrilled,” head coach and math teacher John Rives said. “The girls were unbelievable as always.”

The team was led by standout athletes, junior Justin Cucchi and sophomore Melissa Brown. Cucchi qualified for the high school state meet, completing the 100-yard backstroke in 1:06:46 and winning the race by .05 milliseconds.

“I think I almost fell into the pool,” Cucchi’s mother, Paige Cucchi, said of her jubilation after seeing her son qualify for state.

Cucchi will be joining two other Grady swimmers competing individually at state, along with all six relay teams that qualified. This year is the first time in Grady history that all three of the boys relay teams and all three of the girls relay teams have qualified for the state meet. Brown, along with junior Sloan Hodges and senior Lia Pett, helped lead the team to victory in many relay races. All three will be competing in the state meet in the 200-yard free relay, the 400-yard free relay and the 200-yard medley.

During the meet, the coaches took a 20-minute break in order to honor the seniors from all of the competing schools with a special presentation. Rives presented each of the team’s seniors and their parents with flowers and a few words. This year there are eight seniors on the Grady swim team: Sally Cummings, Sarah Smith, Brandon Kleber, Franklin Brown, Elizabeth Shipp, Lia Pett, AnDru Wilson and Chris Maxwell.

The state meet will take place on Feb. 6 and 7 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, and the team’s success at the city championship has helped the team gain confidence and preparation for the state competition.

“It has been a lot of hard work,” freshman Clare Hendry said. “But it’s all paid off in the end because we are APS champions now.”