Mount Horeb Freshman Competes Solo at Sauk Prairie Dual Meet

Yesterday at 02:47 PM

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

Mount Horeb Freshman Gavin Beglinger swam as a one-man team at their January 7th dual meet vs the full roster at Sauk Prairie.

Beglinger is not the only swimmer on the Mount Horeb team, but their roster is extremely small with only three boys total, and they are not even able to field a relay.

With a team so small, it is not difficult to end up with only one swimmer. One of the boys was sick leading up to the meet, and the team knew in advance he would be unable to attend. The other boy ended up being sent home from school early on the 7th, also due to illness leaving Beglinger as the last man standing.

The boys were supposed to travel to Sauk Prairie that afternoon, and Beglinger chose to travel alone and compete as the only Mount Horeb swimmer. Had Beglinger decided not to compete, the meet between the two teams would have been canceled and none of the Sauk Prairie boys would have been able to swim either.

According to a Facebook post from a group celebrating acts of kindness in Sauk Prairie, when Beglinger showed up at the meet, it was to cheers and thanks from the Sauk Prairie boys team.

They went on to invite Beglinger to swim as a member of two of their relays, choosing to get disqualified in the events, and cheered for all of his races as if he was a member of their own team. At the end of the meet they took a group photo hoisting Beglinger into the air, celebrating his decision to swim alone.

His mom emailed the team the following morning thanking them for the way they treated him.

"You gained a new fan last night…me, Gavin’s mom.  When he swam the 200 free, I heard cheers for Gavin and initially thought there was another Gavin swimming and then I realized you were cheering for my Gavin.  WOW!  I continued to see cheering, fist bumps, him joining your relays, etc.  Once again, WOW!   From the cheers at the beginning to the group photo at the end, I saw your kindness. I am proud of your great swims, but I am even more proud of how you conducted yourselves out of the water.  Little acts of kindness, encouraging others and being respectful to others mean so much in our world. Keep working hard, swimming fast, having fun AND being good humans.   I will be cheering for you.

Thank you,

Gavin’s mom"

Sauk Prairie and Mount Horeb both compete in the WIAA Division II category, and they will have their state meet February 21-22.

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