Going into the Midwest Swim Conference Meet on July 23, the host O'Fallon Breakers felt they had a chance to end Kings Point's string of six consecutive championships.
And this time, they did it.
O'Fallon won the meet with 1,830.5 points while second-place Hilltoppers continued its rise in the conference standings by placing second with 1,770.5 points. Kings Point (1,592) placed third in the nine-team event.
"It was nice hearing our name announced as the winner because it had been Kings Point for so long," said Breakers swimmer Melissa Cooper, 16. "Actually having a good enough team to beat them was nice because we've always been pretty close, but we've never been able to overtake them.
"We had more technique this year and we became faster at what we did. I think we had more passion for it, too."
O'Fallon, which last won the title in 2004, had consistently been one of the best teams in the conference. But until this year, it didn't have the proper mix of depth and talent to overtake Kings Point.
"Our goal for the past couple years had been to step up and beat Kings Point and we finally did it this year, but it was definitely harder this year to beat the other teams," said Breakers coach Kim Eddy. "There was a lot more competition other than just Kings Point.
"I didn't think we would be in first place after freestyle, but we had kids that were seeded fourth getting first and kids that were seeded 12th getting sixth. Our depth paid off and it was a really great day for the Breakers overall."
Cooper won the girls 15-18 backstroke and placed fourth in freestyle. She was also part of the first-place freestyle relay.
"I was pretty happy with how I did this year," Cooper said. "I was injured (popping her collarbone out of place three times) and out for half the year, so being able to come back and do that well was very satisfying."
Jon Hobbs, 15, was part of a strong 15-18 boys group.
"When they announced that we won, everyone on our team went crazy," Hobbs said. "We were taking the trophy and shaking it around. It was a great feeling.
"We have three really strong swimmers in our age group. We had two of the top three finishers in a lot of events and we were in the top six in just about every event."
Kings Point was unbeaten in dual meets for the seventh year in a row, but O'Fallon's depth paid off in the conference meet.
"In conference, the relays are worth 40 points and all of our relays are very strong," Hobbs said. "We don't have just one strong swimmer in each age group - we have a lot of them."
Cooper swims for O'Fallon High School and also swims for a year-round team at the O'Fallon YMCA. Hobbs, meanwhile, tried swimming for the Y for one season and didn't like it, but he swims for the high school team, which is also coached by Eddy.
"Having Kim coach both teams makes it a lot easier because you already know what to expect," Cooper said. "It's harder during the high school season, but the coaches can help you improve during the summer."
One of the Breakers' best young swimmers is Evan Potter, who earned a high point trophy by placing third in the 8-and-under boys age group.
"The conference meet was pretty much where I swam my hardest," said Potter, who is in his first year of competitive swimming. "My mom couldn't make it to part of the meet because she had to drive my baby sister, Josie, to a birthday party and she was really sad about that, but my dad kept sending my mom text messages about how I was doing. A lot of people I knew made it to the conference meet, so I still had a lot of people cheering me on.
"I didn't even know there were any high point trophies, so I was really surprised when I found out I got one. It felt great."
Other high point winners for O'Fallon were Angela Newlon (first in 15-18 girls), Natalie Edwards (first in 11-12 girls), Alyssa Thoman (second in 8-and-under girls) and Max Gibbs (second in 11-12 boys).
Now the challenge for the Breakers will be to repeat as champions in 2012.
"We always try to start with the little kids because they're the future of our program, but we go all the way up through high school and some of those kids give us strength that other teams don't have," Eddy said.
"All of the coaches on the staff right now were Breakers swimmers and it's always great to have the older kids because they can come back as coaches or help the younger kids just by leading through example."
