The Roman era may be winding down for Orange swimming, but it’s still leading to familiar results.
For the third year in a row, Orange’s Luke Roman was named the Central Conference Male Swimmer of the Year after he paced the Panthers to the Central Conference championship at the Orange County Sportsplex on Saturday afternoon.
In an event he has dominated, Roman won the 500 yard freestyle for the fourth consecutive year, setting the pace for Orange to take the Orange the conference title for the fourth straight season.
It was also the end of an era for Orange swimming. It was the final home meet for Roman, Alex Andre, Nick Baczara, Ayden Twiddy and Noah Jones, five swimmers who have propelled the Panthers swimming program to new heights. Together, Orange has won four conference championships and a runner-up finish in the Central Regionals last year at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Once again, Roman, Baczara, Andre and Jones would team together to take two relay conference championships. In the past two years, the quartet has won four conference championships.
Roman, Baczara, Andre and Jones would win the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay.
Roman became the second Orange men’s swimmer in school history to win a state championship last year. At the Triangle Aquatic Complex in Cary, Roman won the 500 yard freestyle. He joined Ben Scott, who won the 2018 100 yard freestyle state championship.
Alex Andre would finish 2nd in the 500 yard freestyle behind his own teammate.
Roman has received interest from several colleges about swimming at the next level, along with balancing his aspirations to attend medical school.
Orange finished with 402 points to take the team championship. Cedar Ridge finished 2nd at 326 points.
In addition to winning the 500 freestyle, Roman also repeated as champion of the 200 yard freestyle, where he held off Twiddy, who finished in 2nd place.
Andre also captured two individual championships. He repeated as the champion of the 200 yard individual medley as he touched the wall at 2:04.08. Cedar Ridge senior Philip Cauwels finished 2nd at 2:15.75. He also came away with the 100 yard butterfly championship with a time of 55.33 seconds. Andre has won three individual conference championships in his Orange career.
In 2024, Andre won the 200 yard individual medley regional championship, edging Carrboro’s Matt Strada by .22 of a second for the title.
It was a solid meet for Cedar Ridge’s younger swimmers. Sophomore Christopher Seawell earned his second individual conference championship in the 100 yard backstroke. Seawell finished at 59.78 seconds, holding off Jones, who came in at 1:07.03. Orange junior Colin Wuthrich finished third at 1:13.00. Last year, Seawell won the 50 yard freestyle.
Cedar Ridge freshman J.E. Sandor continued an outstanding rookie campaign by winning the 100 yard breaststroke. In the closest men’s race of the day, Sandor beat Walter Williams sophomore Liam Miller to the wall by less than one second. Sandor finished at 1:07.91, while Miller finished at 1:08.26. Baczara, the defending champion, finished third at 1:13.28.
Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team also captured a conference championship. Baczara, Twiddy, sophomore Jason Spey and Wuthrich finished at 1:44.31. Cedar Ridge’s team of Jacob Olmstead, Landon Rogers, Zion Green and Davis Golden came in second at 1:57.77.
Walter Williams junior Eamon Hipps swept the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle races. Hipps held off Seawell in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing at 22.64 seconds. Seawell came in at 23.51 seconds. Hipps won the 100 yard freestyle at 50.53 seconds, beating Orange’s Ayden Twiddy, who touched the wall at 51.81 seconds. Wuthrich finished third (1:03.03).
Orange and Cedar Ridge will set their sights to the Greensboro Aquatic Center for the 3A Central Regionals on Saturday night.Last year, Orange had its best-ever showing as a team finishing second behind Carrboro, who claimed its third straight regional title.