Four years ago, joining Pocatello’s swim team required nothing more than signing your name on a piece of paper — no swimming experience necessary.

On Nov. 8, that same program brought home its second consecutive state trophy with a third-place finish in 5A at the Idaho High School Swimming State Championships inside the Idaho Center Aquatic Center in Boise. It cemented a stunning transformation from afterthought to contender.

The Thunder finished with 150 points, capping a remarkable turnaround for a program that tied for dead last in its first-ever appearance just three years earlier.

“Before the final relay started, we all had a group hug, and it was this sweet moment,” Pocatello coach Aileen Pannecoucke said. “I don’t think any person on the team was not crying. I was barely ugly crying. It was such a celebration of their journey.”

Pannecoucke inherited a team in 2023 whose only real pool experience was childhood swim lessons. They still returned to state and even improved with a 12th-place outing. That was followed by the program’s first-ever state trophy with a fourth-place finish last year.

Saturday brought another milestone — back-to-back state trophies for the first time in program history.

“It’s crazy. We came from nothing, and now we’re in third place in the entire state,” senior Kaiden Irwin said. “My parents talked to me about that sometimes too, and they’re like, you realize where you’ve brought this team? It’s crazy.”

Irwin, who has been there from Day 1, capped his decorated career with four more state medals — fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:54.30), third in the 500 freestyle (5:15.58) and two relay medals — giving him 10 for his career, the most in Pocatello boys swimming history. The swan song was particularly remarkable given he underwent heart surgery over the summer.

“He is a kid that when he walks into a room he can change the atmosphere,” Pannecoucke said. “He held everyone accountable. And I think having somebody on the team that holds everyone accountable is super important.”

Just ask Zander Enslinger.

His mentorship directly helped the sophomore become the first state champion in program history. He eased to the 500 freestyle title in 4:56.03 —more than 11 seconds ahead of the field.

“My dad and I were looking at how no one has ever won state for Poky,” Enslinger said. “So I thought it was really special for me to be the first just because of how much effort that I had put in. It was a really special experience.”

Especially since he shaved more than 28 seconds off his time from just a year ago, when he finished a distant fifth in the same event.

Pannecoucke watched the transformation unfold throughout the season. At the first meet, Enslinger went 5:15 in the 500.

“He came up to me, he’s like, ‘Oh, I think by my senior year, I want to go under five minutes,’” Pannecoucke said. “And I was just thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, that would be so great.’

But he was wrong.

Enslinger went under five minutes at the state meet, clocking 4:54 in prelims and 4:56 in finals.”

“I focused a lot more this season on trying to get better and really listening and honing in on what my coaches taught me, as well as trying to bulk up to get stronger throughout the year,” Enslinger said.

It very nearly resulted in another state championship in the 200 freestyle (1:45.57). Columbia’s Zeke Burgi just edged him at the wall by just 41 hundredths of a second.

“I knew it was going to be tight before the race even started, since I knew Zeke wanted it just as much as I wanted it,” Enslinger said. “It was so close.

“I was a little bit sad, that’s for sure, just because of how close it was. But I definitely think it’s a great motivating factor. That means next year, I can get him next year, and I can go even faster.”

Pocatello’s other state medalists included sophomore Kian Bennett, who placed fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:54.46) and sixth in the 500 freestyle (5:33.43). The Thunder’s 200 medley relay team of JW Schwartz, Enslinger, Gavin Hill and Irwin finished fourth (1:48.02).

The meet’s final event — the 400 freestyle relay — carried extra weight. Before the team of Asa Northrup, Hill, Enslinger and Irwin took their marks, Irwin gathered his teammates for one final message.

“I told them, I’m like guys, I love you so much. You guys are family to me,” Irwin said. “It’s our last time swimming together. So we’re gonna make it count, and we’re just gonna give all we have.”

It was Irwin’s final high school race, swimming anchor in front of a tearful Pocatello contingent. The Thunder finished fourth (3:30.31).

Irwin will now serve a two-year LDS mission before swimming for Southern Virginia University.

“Kaiden was the greatest mentor that I could ever have or ever wish for,” Enslinger said. “We’ve been on the same club team for a while now. I love Kaiden with my whole heart. He definitely helped me push through with some of those harder practices. He definitely helped me just become a better person overall and a better swimmer and a better athlete.”

On the girls side, Ryan Eberle also added to her medal haul.

The senior took third in the 200 freestyle (2:05.60) and sixth in the 500 freestyle (5:52.17). Eberle, who became the program’s first girls individual state medalist last season, leaves with a total of six career medals.

“Ryan is somebody that is also so dedicated and filled with grit,” Pannecoucke said. “This kid is just absolutely one of the hardest working kids on the team.”

Century’s Deacon Major didn’t leave it up to chance this time around.

The sophomore won the 200 IM in 1:57.60 — more than five seconds ahead of Middleton’s Malachi Guinotte-Cordero — then added a second gold medal in the 100 backstroke (52.77), winning by more than five seconds.

The victories came after heartbreak last season, when Major finished second in the 200 IM by just 14 hundredths of a second and was a distant third in the 100 backstroke.

“I was pretty mad, but I felt happy because I knew right at that moment, I messed up on just a couple of things,” Major said. “I knew if I improved that over training and getting ready, I could improve that and win state in the next year.”

Major said he specifically worked on his breakouts and turns, particularly on the backstroke-to-breaststroke transition in the IM. Major took a methodical approach, using prelims to feel out the race and identify what needed fixing before executing those adjustments in finals.

It worked.

“It helps me get rid of all the nerves for finals,” he said.

It all resulted in him becoming the first Century boys state champion since Coleman Sandy won both the 50 and 100 freestyles in 2019.

Major added two more medals as part of the third-place 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. He, Noah Hunt, Parker Jensen and Asher Farrell took third in 200 at 1:47.86. The same quartet took fifth in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:33.06. Hunt also earned a sixth-place finish in the 100 butterfly (58.23). It all helped the Century boys finish sixth with 107 points.

The Century girls also placed sixth in 5A with 83 points, led by senior Kyran Patterson, who earned four state medals.

Patterson took bronze in the 100 butterfly (1:04.34) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (2:06.72), then helped both relay teams reach the podium. The 200 freestyle relay team of Aubrey Davis, Katie Davis, Sienna Swan and Patterson tied for third (1:49.04), while the 400 freestyle relay team of Patterson, Katie Davis, Norah O’Donnell and Aubrey Davis placed fifth (4:04.03).

Over in 6A, Highland boys scored 94 points to finish fifth − the best finish in program history.

Their own trajectory has also been impressive — the Rams finished second to last in both 2022 and 2023, then placed 16th last year before nearly bringing home a piece of hardware this season.

Junior Cooper Hoopes became the first Highland boys swimmer to medal multiple times at state since Ben Long in 2020, earning bronze medals in both the 200 freestyle (1:47.07) and 100 butterfly (53.42). Senior Gareth Jones added a fourth-place finish in the 50 freestyle (22.33). The Rams’ 200 freestyle relay team of Gyan Tacadena, Jones, Hoopes and Bauer Freeman placed fourth (1:31.30). The 400 freestyle relay team of Jones, Hoopes, Kynan Tacadena and Jax Wilson finished sixth (3:26.99).

On the girls side, senior Addisyn Fenstermaker capped her accomplished high school career with a fourth-place finish in the 50 freestyle (25.26) and third in the 100 freestyle (54.76) — performances made all the more impressive by the fact she was battling a cold and sinus infection throughout the weekend.

“I was just kind of tired, and my body was just kind of like, you need to rest,” Fenstermaker said. “I was taking medication every day. I was like, please, let me get through the weekend.”

Despite the illness, she still set a personal record in the 50 and dropped almost two seconds from districts in the 100.

“I was very happy about it,” she said. “I wasn’t really expecting to get the time I got either. I did want to get top three in something, so I’m glad I got third in the 100.”

The two medals maker her Highland’s most decorated girls swimmer ever with six career state medals, surpassing former teammate Ruby Jordan. Fenstermaker placed at state in the 50 freestyle each year — fourth in 2023 and sixth in 2024 — and took fifth in the 100 freestyle last year. As a freshman, she also placed fourth in the 200 freestyle relay alongside Jordan.

“I feel like I have set kind of like an example, in a way, I guess, to other people,” Fenstermaker said.