The Class 5A swimming season kicks off this week with defending champions Palo Verde boys and Coronado girls both grappling with significant graduation losses. Palo Verde boys have won 11 straight state titles, but coach Brent Gonzalez acknowledges this could be a rebuilding year after losing star Max Carlsen to NC State. Carlsen, now an ACC record holder in the 1,000 freestyle, was instrumental in last year’s two-point victory over Reed.

“This is going to be a tough year for the boys,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t have replacements for the top three guys we lost. Max Carlsen was the big one.”

The Panthers still return senior Owen Robertson, winner of the 200 IM and 100 backstroke at last year’s state meet, along with senior sprinter Joshua Evans and junior sprinter Chase Gallagher. But Gonzalez expects Coronado and Faith Lutheran to challenge in the South, while Reed remains strong in the North.

“I still think we’re going to be competitive this season,” Gonzalez said. “We might not win, but we will go down trying.”

On the girls side, Coronado also lost several key swimmers but returns senior Ana Schulz, senior Grace Carrington and sophomore Lia Carrington. Bishop Gorman coach Christopher Barber sees an opportunity, noting his team is deeper than it has been in years.

“We’re as deep as we’ve been in a while,” Barber said. “We should be vastly improved. Last year we had to scrap and claw, and we had a lot of new swimmers. But we’ve had an infusion of freshman swimmers and transfers, so I think we’ll be much more competitive.”

Gorman is led by freestyle and breaststroke specialist Juli Herra, with promising freshmen Fiona Wendelboe (backstroke) and Kenzie Hovanec (all-around). Palo Verde girls, who finished third in 2025, are led by Zoey Johnson, Rachel Robertson, Alexa Thielke and Aspen Konidaris.

“Our girls are looking good,” Gonzalez said. “I think they will be a bit stronger. I don’t know if we can take down Coronado, but I think we’ll be competitive.”