By the look of things at the Freedom High School Natatorium last Thursday, no one would ever know that the Patriot boys swim team is competing with a shortage of swimmers this season.

“That’s a good way to put it,” said Freedom captain Ryan Rummel. “It’s definitely challenging, and it feels very nice to win one. A lot of times we don’t because of our lack of swimmers.”

But last week they did, swimming to a 95-58 victory over the Canaries at Freedom.

“The kids work their butts off, so to see them get a win, especially when we have so many kids out right now, to see that and they’re reaping the rewards from that and how happy they are, they’re seeing the results and it’s awesome,” said Freedom swim coach Alisha Roscioli. “It’s all them. I just kind of throw them where I need them, and it’s them working as a team and pulling what they can together to get the job done.”

The Freedom foursome of Andrew Ehret, AJ Black, Luke McClure, Ryan Rummel won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:49.53 to start off the boys races.

McClure was right back in the water and swam to a first place finish in the 200 IM in 2:20.00, later scoring first place points in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.62.

Rummel sprinted to first in the 50 free with a time of 24.19, and in the 100 free with a time of 57.38.

“I was really happy. That was my fastest time in an actual off-the-block 50 free,” Rummel said. “The 100 free was a little slower than I would have liked it, but I’ve been out the last two-and-a-half weeks.”

In the 500 free, Ehret took first place with a time of 5:12.50.

“Ryan and Andrew [are stepping up], and Luke is really holding his own and pushing through a lot of stuff,” Coach Roscioli said.

Drew Harvey, Somak Roy, Aadam Ameerally, Jayden-Kylem Coley combined to win the 200 free relay for the Pates with a time of 2:09.78.

Ehret came in first in the 100 backstroke in 58.69, and Black was the first to touch in the 100 breaststroke in 1:17.19.

McClure, Rummel, Black, and Ehret closed out the meet with a first place finish in the 400 free relay in 3:46.50

“I just joined last year, so I’m really new compared to a lot of swimmers but really improved last year,” said Rummel, who’s also a captain. “It kind of showed the coaches that I could help the team and make a good impact. I’ve tried a lot of sports. You name it, I probably tried a lot of sports but swimming stuck. I enjoy coming to practice, and that’s a feeling I never had before. We have 30 kids overall with nine guys, but I’ll put my heart and soul in the pool and swim the best I can.”