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Coach John VanDriessche knows he has something special this season within his Penn High School boys swimming program.
VanDriessche, now in his second season in charge of the Kingsmen, believes he has the right combination to surpass last year's fifth place finish at the IHSAA state finals.
"I'm very happy with the team I have this season, and we are really excited about this group," said VanDriessche in a recent phone interview. "Our boys' team is super deep and super talented.
"We have a lot of hard-working kids. We have a strong group of seniors who we can lean on collectively and we have a lot of talent in our junior and sophomore classes. I think that this is a team that could finish in the top two or three at state."
From 2024-25: Late-meet surge leads Penn to fifth place at IHSAA boys swimming state finals
More: Top South Bend area high school sports performances, Dec. 1-6, 2025
The Kingsmen recently set a milestone with their 83rd straight win in the Northern Indiana Conference. The victory, a 149-36 decision over South Bend Riley where VanDriessche coached prior to coming to Penn, extended a league winning streak that began in December of 2016. Penn has won eight NIC titles in a row and is also undefeated at home since 2018.
The Kingsmen, who went 10-0 last season, have also won 43 overall meets in row after beating South Bend Washington and Northridge on Dec. 2.
"That's something we are proud of," said VanDriessche of the league dominance. "It speaks to the success, longevity-wise, for the program and is something that we just want to keep the ball rolling."
The Kingsmen, who were state runner up in 2023-24, feature a loaded lineup led by the likes of Matthew Weeks and Sawyer Wells. Senior Weeks placed eighth in the 100-yard backstroke at state in 2025 and sophomore Wells was 12th in the 200-yard freestyle and 13th in the 500-yard freestyle.
Penn also returns big talent in seniors Leo Ni and Ethan Barnes, along with juniors Max Barnes, Josh Brown, Seth Werntz, Gavin Crail and Joshua Seluzhitskiy and sophomore Charlie Christianson.
Weeks teamed with Ni and Crail to place seventh in the 200-medley relay event at State in 2025. Crail, along with Christianson and Werntz, return from the 200-freestyle relay team that was third at state.
Other area boys teams to keep an eye on include Northridge, La Porte, Elkhart and New Prairie. Northridge won a sectional title in 2025 and was 16th at state.
The Penn girls team has a new look this season, while both South Bend Adams and Concord have some familiar faces back.
The Penn squad lost a total of 19 swimmers from a season ago, including a senior class of 11.
"We really have a completely different team in a lot of ways," said VanDriessche. "We have 13 new swimmers this year, but it's been a seamless transition. They have fit in, and our six seniors have given us great leadership."
The Penn girls team was seventh at the state finals in 2025. They have the top tier talent in senior Alayna Riggins and juniors Lauren McGrath and Molly Barnes to make plenty of postseason noise again. Riggins was second in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 100 butterfly at state a season ago. McGrath was sixth in the 200 IM and 13th in the 100 freestyle and Barnes fifth in the 100 backstroke. The trio also helped the 200 medley relay team, which also included Anika Guenther, place fifth at state.
More: For Penn High School's Molly Barnes, swimming is in her DNA ― even at the Olympic level
"We have a good team that I think could place in the top 10 again at state, but our frontline talent is really good," VanDriessche said. "I think that Alayna, Lauren and Molly all can compete for individual state titles this year."
Adams, which was sectional runner up to Penn and was 21st at state in 2025, will be led by star Addy Szakaly. The senior, who has committed to Iowa, was sixth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 200 IM at state a season ago.
The Eagles will also count on senior Willa Kricheff and sophomores Liz Anderson and Shannon Dowd as key returnees.
Concord has won five straight sectionals on the girls' side and was 14th at state in 2025. Coach Tom Johnson boasts a strong senior class, led by standout Catie Brenneman. She placed fourth in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events at the State Finals in 2025.
Other key returnees for Concord include seniors Mya Ernsberger and Gia Sponseller, junior Brynlee Paige Yoder and sophomore Brynlee Shay Yoder.
Among other area swimmers to keep an eye on are senior diver Bella Estep and sophomore Liz Holds at Northridge, senior Jocie Tarver and juniors Arianna Garcia and Stella Jones at Elkhart, senior Eden Wiggins and sophomore Eden Mock at NorthWood and diver Renee Welling and senior Lydia Griffith at Goshen. Divers Estep and Welling were both regional qualifiers last season.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA girls, boys swimming 2025-26 season preview South Bend area
Continue reading...
VanDriessche, now in his second season in charge of the Kingsmen, believes he has the right combination to surpass last year's fifth place finish at the IHSAA state finals.
"I'm very happy with the team I have this season, and we are really excited about this group," said VanDriessche in a recent phone interview. "Our boys' team is super deep and super talented.
"We have a lot of hard-working kids. We have a strong group of seniors who we can lean on collectively and we have a lot of talent in our junior and sophomore classes. I think that this is a team that could finish in the top two or three at state."
From 2024-25: Late-meet surge leads Penn to fifth place at IHSAA boys swimming state finals
More: Top South Bend area high school sports performances, Dec. 1-6, 2025
The Kingsmen recently set a milestone with their 83rd straight win in the Northern Indiana Conference. The victory, a 149-36 decision over South Bend Riley where VanDriessche coached prior to coming to Penn, extended a league winning streak that began in December of 2016. Penn has won eight NIC titles in a row and is also undefeated at home since 2018.
The Kingsmen, who went 10-0 last season, have also won 43 overall meets in row after beating South Bend Washington and Northridge on Dec. 2.
"That's something we are proud of," said VanDriessche of the league dominance. "It speaks to the success, longevity-wise, for the program and is something that we just want to keep the ball rolling."
The Kingsmen, who were state runner up in 2023-24, feature a loaded lineup led by the likes of Matthew Weeks and Sawyer Wells. Senior Weeks placed eighth in the 100-yard backstroke at state in 2025 and sophomore Wells was 12th in the 200-yard freestyle and 13th in the 500-yard freestyle.
Penn also returns big talent in seniors Leo Ni and Ethan Barnes, along with juniors Max Barnes, Josh Brown, Seth Werntz, Gavin Crail and Joshua Seluzhitskiy and sophomore Charlie Christianson.
Weeks teamed with Ni and Crail to place seventh in the 200-medley relay event at State in 2025. Crail, along with Christianson and Werntz, return from the 200-freestyle relay team that was third at state.
Other area boys teams to keep an eye on include Northridge, La Porte, Elkhart and New Prairie. Northridge won a sectional title in 2025 and was 16th at state.
Penn, Adams, Concord strong on girls side
The Penn girls team has a new look this season, while both South Bend Adams and Concord have some familiar faces back.
The Penn squad lost a total of 19 swimmers from a season ago, including a senior class of 11.
"We really have a completely different team in a lot of ways," said VanDriessche. "We have 13 new swimmers this year, but it's been a seamless transition. They have fit in, and our six seniors have given us great leadership."
The Penn girls team was seventh at the state finals in 2025. They have the top tier talent in senior Alayna Riggins and juniors Lauren McGrath and Molly Barnes to make plenty of postseason noise again. Riggins was second in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 100 butterfly at state a season ago. McGrath was sixth in the 200 IM and 13th in the 100 freestyle and Barnes fifth in the 100 backstroke. The trio also helped the 200 medley relay team, which also included Anika Guenther, place fifth at state.
More: For Penn High School's Molly Barnes, swimming is in her DNA ― even at the Olympic level
"We have a good team that I think could place in the top 10 again at state, but our frontline talent is really good," VanDriessche said. "I think that Alayna, Lauren and Molly all can compete for individual state titles this year."
Adams, which was sectional runner up to Penn and was 21st at state in 2025, will be led by star Addy Szakaly. The senior, who has committed to Iowa, was sixth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 200 IM at state a season ago.
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The Eagles will also count on senior Willa Kricheff and sophomores Liz Anderson and Shannon Dowd as key returnees.
Concord has won five straight sectionals on the girls' side and was 14th at state in 2025. Coach Tom Johnson boasts a strong senior class, led by standout Catie Brenneman. She placed fourth in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events at the State Finals in 2025.
Other key returnees for Concord include seniors Mya Ernsberger and Gia Sponseller, junior Brynlee Paige Yoder and sophomore Brynlee Shay Yoder.
Among other area swimmers to keep an eye on are senior diver Bella Estep and sophomore Liz Holds at Northridge, senior Jocie Tarver and juniors Arianna Garcia and Stella Jones at Elkhart, senior Eden Wiggins and sophomore Eden Mock at NorthWood and diver Renee Welling and senior Lydia Griffith at Goshen. Divers Estep and Welling were both regional qualifiers last season.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA girls, boys swimming 2025-26 season preview South Bend area
Continue reading...
