Classon shows off skills for swim team
Peyton Classon first year swimming making huge impacts
Sophomore Peyton Classon is a member of the swim and dive team. This is her first year diving and she is already one of the best divers on the team. The swim and dive team has been one of the best teams in state winning more than 130 straight dual team meets. One of the biggest questions is, how she is doing so well? Some think that it has to do with her past in gymnastics that helps her cut through the air on the diving board.
She has the swim and dive team’s attention with her style of dives and the scores she receives, but one of the major reasons she is succeeding is the head coach Brian Luke. Luke is the son of Elmer Luke, who was Hopkins’s swim and dive coach. Brian passed his father’s record last year in a meet against East Ridge with 126 straight dual meet wins.
It is Classon’s first year of diving with her junior teammate, Summer Jack. The team has had a successful past 13 years without a dual meet loss. Some think one of the reasons she has succeeded is because her gymnastics background.
Jack explained, “Peyton was recently a gymnast, and those skills can be carried over to diving which gives her a little bit of an advantage against her competition.” Jack also added, “This is Peyton’s first year and she has quickly become very valuable to our team. She always has a great attitude and works hard at practice”.
Jack said, “We have a great coach[Brian Luke], who has been doing this for about the past 40 years. We have a very talented group of swimmers and divers who show up to practice prepared to work hard and we all come together as a team ready to race and compete when it comes time for a meet.”
Classon’s early success is nearly unheard of and the team is doing extremely well of late, but how did this success happen so fast? Some think of Classon’s recent history with other sports. With an experienced coach like Brian Luke and an already skilled team adding another member, sounds like a recipe for success.
Classon credits her gymnastics background when she explained, “I have been doing gymnastics since I was three and this year is my first doing swimming.” She added, “I really enjoy the team, and how it feels more like another family than just a team.”
They have done extremely well in the past decade and a half, and the team is looking to be even better this year. Adding one of the team’s best divers in Peyton Classon will only help the team’s chance at winning a state title this year. Also the team placed fourth last year in the true team state competition, getting edged out by, Edina, Wayzata and winner, Minnetonka. The team will look to do better although they did lose graduate Abby Kunze last year to the University of Illinois at Chicago, but Classon should be able to make up for that loss this year.
