Clarke Central High School varsity swim and dive swimmers Noa Brown, a sophomore (left), and Nola Bramlett, a freshman (right), pose at the ODYSSEY Media Group’s 2025 Winter Media Day in the CCHS Competition Gym on Nov. 9. The CCHS swim team, coached by CCHS head varsity swim and dive coach Rick Simonds, has been preparing for the upcoming meet on Nov. 15, which will take place at Johnson Park in Conyers, Ga. “It’s our first away (meet), so (I’m) just hoping to get the swimmers ready. We’ll be loading them up and going over there on Saturday,” Simonds said. “Hopefully we’ll have (a) good turnout.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
The CCHS varsity swim and dive team is gearing up to compete in their first away meet of the season, starting at 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Johnson Park Recreation Center.
The Clarke Central High School varsity swim and dive team will compete in their second meet of the season at Johnson Park Recreation Center in Conyers, Ga., hosted by Heritage High School on Nov. 15 at 3:40 p.m.
Since the Georgia High School Association season began on Oct. 6, the Gladiators have practiced Monday through Thursday from 7-8:30 p.m. at the University of Georgia Ramsey Student Center. This season marks a new beginning for the CCHS varsity swim and dive team under the leadership of new CCHS head varsity swim and dive coach Rick Simonds.
“We’ve got a good group of kids, and I’m really excited. We have a lot of new swimmers, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised and really excited about their improvement over the last month of practice,” Simonds said. “Even the experienced swimmers managed to get some state cut times (in the previous meet), so that’s always great to get out of the way and get your qualifying times.”
In my opinion, it’s kind of magical, because I have seen some of these people (from) their first meet (on the team) to their first meet this season, and it’s a huge improvement.”
— Noa Brown,
CCHS varsity swim and dive swimmer and sophomore
The upcoming meet will include HHS, Morgan County High School, Ola High School, Union Grove High School, Eagles Landing High School, and Dutchtown High School. In their season opener on Nov. 8 at the Ramsey Student Center, the Gladiators placed fourth overall, with the boys’ team placing third and the girls fifth. CCHS varsity swim and dive swimmer Noa Brown, a sophomore, noted the team’s improvement so far.
“A big strength with our team is that all the swimmers who come to practices, you can see them improving. In my opinion, it’s kind of magical, because I have seen some of these people (from) their first meet (on the team) to their first meet this season, and it’s a huge improvement,” Brown said.
This won’t be the HHS Raiders’ first time competing against the Gladiators as they swam in the season opener and placed ninth overall out of 11 teams. After the opener, swimmers and coaches were left optimistic about what’s ahead for the Gladiators.
“You’re gonna have less (swimmers) with an away meet, but I’m confident that the swimmers that we do bring are gonna be ready to go,” Simonds said. “Heritage is a good team, and they’ll obviously have more swimmers that they brought over at (Ramsey Center), so they’ll have the home field advantage, but we’ll still be competitive and have some good times in the water.”
