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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Skylar Zuleger and Zach Hirata broke four records between them when Davie’s swim teams competed in the annual Robert Sawyer Invitational at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Dec. 19.
The mind-blowing thing is both are youngsters.
Zuleger of the Davie girls is a freshman who finished first in the 200 IM at 2:12.95 and in the 100 breast at 1:03.49. And we’re not talking about a small meet; there were 25-plus schools from across the state on hand, including one boys team from Maryland.
In the 100 breast, Zuleger broke her own Davie record as well as the meet record.
Hirata is a man on a mission. The sophomore broke his own Davie record with a 53.12 time in the backstroke, which was good for third place. In his sixth-place swim in the 200 IM, his time of 2:00.24 broke Earnhardt Harris’ school record by nearly two seconds.
“Earnhardt (a 2024 Davie graduate) was watching the meet on stream and texted Zach right away to say congratulations,” father/coach Tak Hirata said.
And then Hirata led off the 400 relay with a blistering 48.96 time, because, you know, why not? All three of his swims earned automatic qualifications for the regional.
“We know that they have the talent – it’s all about the kids recognizing what it takes to get to the next level,” coach Hirata said. “It helps that we have arguably two of the best ever to swim at Davie showing them what talent and hard work put together can do. I’m just amazed and excited every time Sky gets in the pool at what she’s going to accomplish, and Zach just keeps setting new goals and keeps crushing it. I really think we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg of their potential. But make no mistake about it, Sky and Zach put in the work day in and day out, never taking a day off. That’s what sets them apart. Some others are seeing it and starting to really take note of it.”
Also scoring for the Davie girls were Emory Butler (10th in 100 free, 14th in 100 back), Sarah Rajacich (17th in 50 free, 16th in 100 fly) and all three relay teams. The 200 medley relay finished sixth, the 200 free relay was ninth and the 400 free relay was 16th.
The Davie boys got points from Xaiden Groff (19th), Josh McBride (14th in 200 free), Logan Zuleger (18th in 100 free, 15th in 100 breast, 18th in the 100 free) and the three relays. The 200 medley relay was 14th, the 200 free relay 18th and the 400 free relay 12th.
When it was over, coach Hirata was beaming over the countless personal-best swims.
“Almost everyone had at least one big time drop, many with all of their swims being PB’s,” he said. “This was a fun meet. Every year we go into this meet and not really know if our training is working – and every year our swimmers remind us that hard work works. Coaches Katie (Shoaf) and Chad (Zuleger) have done an amazing job getting them ready and it really showed. Some meets we just get to sit back and enjoy the fruit of their dedication and hard work. This was one of those meets. We got to watch some records broken and they were dropping several seconds every time we turned around to look at the scoreboard. They’re starting to understand that how they practice and what they put into it, not just completing the sets, make all the difference. They’re getting hungrier for more success and reaching their potential – and that’s exactly where we want to be after this midseason focus meet. As coaches, we really can’t ask for more. We’re so proud of the team’s dedication and growth so far this season and can’t wait to see what more they accomplish in the second half of the season.”