The 18 Chaparral High School seniors take center stage Thursday on senior night at the Firebirds last dual meet of the season against Pinnacle High School at Cactus Pool. This senior class is special to fifth-year head coach Richard Krzyzanowski, as this is the first class of seniors he’s been with since their freshman year. 

“Unbelievable. One of the greatest things I’ve ever seen,” Krzyzanowski said of the seniors’ growth. “From when they’ve come in as a freshman to what they are now is probably one of the most eye-opening things I could ever imagine.” 

Seniors Chloe Zapata, Maeve Lomax, Waverly Pressel, and Kelly Richards are the four captains of the girls team this season. The four have been to state every year and, according to Krzyzanowski, have come out of their shells since freshman year “in ways they probably never envisioned.” 

“When they came in, they were just by themselves, on their own island. Now, they’re inseparable,” Krzyzanowski said. 

Everything the seniors do now is for each other, and their team: a team that hasn’t lost a meet all season and is looking for its sixth-straight state title come November. Leading a team of high powered juniors with expectations is tough, but these four don’t flinch. Instead, they stand up to the challenge, but not like everyone else. 

The four senior captains are more “quiet leaders” than loud, according to Krzyzanowski. The four leaders do a “phenomenal job” nonetheless and that “he couldn’t have asked for four better captains this year.”

Highlighting the seniors this year is Zapata, who took second place in the 50-yard freestyle, sixth in the 100-yard butterfly and swam the second leg of the state record-breaking 200-yard freestyle relay at AIA Division I State Championships in 2018. 

Zapata said her four years at Chaparral have been “a roller coaster of emotions,” but with more peaks than valleys. “It’s been the best four years, I wouldn’t trade it for the world," she said.

Krzyzanowski said that Zapata has a “goofy personality” and “always makes it an eventful day for us” and “hates losing.”

Fellow senior Lomax said she came in freshman year knowing “absolutely nobody,” but built her friend group mostly from the swim team into friendships that have stood the test of time during high school. 

“My four years here have been so much fun,” Lomax said. “It’s been so nice to further those friendships with each swim season, both in the pool and out.” 

Lomax is a freestyler and butterflier for the Firebirds. 

“(She is) silent but deadly,” Krzyzanowski said on Lomax. “She’s come out of her shell the most. She hates when she sees people not supporting each other.” 

Pressel described her four years at Chaparral as “incredible” and swimming as “the most memorable thing” she’ll take out of high school. 

“I didn’t think it would really impact me as much. I’ve done swimming for so long I’m like, ‘Oh it’s just high school, it’s not a big deal, it’s just there to put it on your college resume’ but it really isn’t,” Pressel said. “It’s definitely way more and Richie and Russ do a really good job of making it more than that.”’

Krzyzanowski said that Pressel is “Always willing and wanting to do more for the team.” 

Richards would agree with Pressel that high school swim was “a much bigger part of my high school experience than I thought it was going to be.”

“I had no idea how much everyone could care about a high school team,” Richards said. “So when I came in I was shocked with the captains, how much Richie cared [and] all the work he put into it and just the relationships that I’ve built.” 

Richards is a freestyler for the Firebirds and expected to graduate in the top 5% of her class along with her fellow captains. 

“Just relentless in what she wants to do and what she wants for the team,” Krzyzanowski said.

All four seniors know what they bring to the table and their place on the team. 

“They know what they need to contribute at the right moment,” Krzyzanowski said. “I don’t have to say it to them. They know what to do and that’s the best thing.”