BHS girls swim and dive takes on Novi in ‘one of the most important meets of the year’

On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, Brighton High School’s varsity girls swim and dive took on Novi High School, securing a win with a score of 112-74.

Brighton managed to win all three relays, including the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. There were also several individual wins. Sophomore Elizabeth Walters-Ricketts snagged a victory in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:02.01, while senior Josie Libler won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:11.81. Sophomore Katie Gray won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.91 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.32. Fellow sophomore Natalie Mazur crushed the 100-yard butterfly in 57.83 and the 100-yard backstroke in 1:01.31. Senior Ava Sventickas won the 100-yard freestyle in 56.31. When it came to diving, junior Ginny Jones placed second with 185.45 points.

Swimming is as much an individual sport as a team one; beyond the wins for the team, several swimmers also earned personal best times in their races, including sophomores Kaitlyn Simon and Madalyn Simon.

“I did [a] PR [personal record]; I dropped 2 seconds from my previous time, yes, which was a 1:14,” Kaitlyn said, referring to her race in the 100-yard butterfly, where she placed seventh in 1:12.09.

Similarly, Madalyn also saw an improvement in the 200-yard freestyle, where she placed 11th.

“I [got a] PR by, like, six seconds from 2:27 to 2:21,” Madalyn said.

The meet was especially significant because Novi is one of Brighton’s biggest competitors and has been a hard team for BHS to beat over the years.

“Novi is such an important team for us to beat, like, it’s one of the most important meets of the year,” Kaitlyn said. 

Despite the hard work of the team, several of the participants were still nervous about taking on their rival team. According to Madalyn, there was “a lot of nervous energy” present among the team during this high-stakes meet.

By the end of the meet, though, the BHS girls swim and dive team was thrilled to have beaten their rivals after losing the meet before to Northville High School. 

“Since last week, they did so good!” Madalyn said.