2025-26 Fort Recovery swim preview

2024-25 season

The Indians had some strong individual swimmers, but a lack of numbers kept them from too much team success throughout the season. Joelle Kaup led the girls team, finishing 10th at district in the 50-yard freestyle and 18th in the 100 backstroke. She also claimed the only Midwest Athletic Conference title in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 5.22 seconds. Carson Fullenkamp and Caleb Smith both made the district tournament for the boys. Fullenkamp placed 25th in the 100 butterfly and 31st in the 200 individual medley. Smith placed 30th in the 100 breaststroke.

Projected lineup

Boys

Carson Fullenkamp– IM/Fly

Mason Laux – Free/Back

Matt Marchal – Free

Caleb Smith – Breast

Seniors

Autumn Leuthold – Free

Juniors

Aubree Heitkamp – Dive/Back

Theresa Hipple – Dive

Aubrey Shuttleworth – Free/Back

Sophomores

Emily Boeckman – Breast

Scarlet Hiser – Free/Fly

Liza Knapke – Fly/Dist.

Livy Timmerman – IM/Sprint

Freshmen

Jenna Bertke – Breast

Claire Wenning – Back

Meets to watch

Tuesday, Dec. 2, vs. Greenville, Versailles and St. Henry

Fort Recovery opens right away against a pair of conference opponents. It will provide a measuring stick with how the individuals match up against the Tigers and St. Henry.

Friday-Saturday, Jan. 9-10, vs. JCHS Invitational

The Jay County Invitational is a key midseason meet when the team starts to figure out the roles of the individual athletes.

Saturday, Jan. 17, vs. MAC Invite

The Allen County Athletic Conference meet holds importance for bragging rights of the ACAC title and is an opportunity to get an idea of a lineup before heading into the sectional.

Fast facts

•The Tribe has sent swimmers to the state meet in three of the past five seasons. Teigan Fortkamp made it as an individual in 2023 and 2024, while relay teams got through in 2021 and 2023.

•This will be Abby Timmerman’s first season at the helm of the Indian tankers. Mindy Bubp will remain on staff to help out as much as possible as well while taking a step back.

•With four boys this year, Fort Recovery will be able to put together relays again, something they couldn’t do with only three swimmers last season.

•Caleb Smith holds the school record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 9.54 seconds at the Midwest Athletic Conference meet.

Coach Mindy Bubp says

“Boys-wise, we're excited that we're going to have four. So that'll give us the opportunity to compete more as a team, let them do relays … And then with Carson and Caleb both going to districts last year, we're hoping that they can return again and finish their senior year of strong. 

“We've got a lot of new (girls) swimmers, so it's going to be a lot of just figuring out where they go and what their best events are. And for some of our returning swim swimmers, we've had some relays going to districts, so we're hoping to do that again this year. 

“And then we're really trying to focus both the boys and girls this year on fun and continuing to grow our program and making sure that we stay strong in our numbers. … We definitely just want this season to be fun and successful at the same time.”

Date    Opponent    Location        Time

Tuesday, Dec. 2    Quad meet    Greenville YMCA    6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 6    Celina Sprint    Jay County    10 a.m.

Thursday, Dec. 11    Wayne Warrior Invite    Trotwood    5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 16    Quad meet    South Adams    6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 30    Holiday swim meet    Lima YMCA    10 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 6    South Adams/Minster    South Adams    5:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 10    Jay County Invite    Jay County    9 a.m.

Saturday, Jan. 17    Cav Invite “MAC”    Jay County    1 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 18    Southwest Classic    Trotwood        TBA

Tuesday, Jan. 20    Delta/Burris    Delta        5:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 26    Coldwater/Marion Loc.    South Adams    6 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 31    St. Henry Invite    Celina YMCA    11 a.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 3    Celina/Greenville    South Adams    6 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 7    Quad meet    Celina YMCA    11 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 13    Sectional (boys)    Trotwood    6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 14    Sectional (girls)    Trotwood    11 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 21    District    Miami (OH)    10:45 a.m.

Thur-Fri, Feb 26-27    State    Canton        TBA