History often teaches lessons and the history of the Dexter boys’ swimming and diving team is a lesson in greatness. The Dreadnaughts have been a state powerhouse over the past decade and have the hardware to back it up.
Dexter won its first State Title in swimming in 1999. Over a decade later they returned to the winning podium with a State Title in 2012. And this is where the dynasty hits the water – the Dreadnaughts won four Division 2 state championships in a row starting in 2016.
Since the 2009-10 season, Dexter has won 10 or more dual-meets 10 times. They went 11-1 in 2016-17, 13-1 in 2018-19, and 10-1 last season. Those are some pretty impressive numbers.
They are 5-2 this year facing the challenging SEC Red Division.
Swimmer Stuart Bovich is a senior on this year’s Dexter team and has been swimming with the Dreadnaughts now for four seasons. He has any easy explanation on why Dexter has been so dominant in water sports – and it all comes down to hard work.
“Dexter swimming is so successful because of our rigorous training program,” he says. “In season, we train four hours a day, an hour and a half before school, and two and a half hours after school. But without our coaches and our end-of-season planning and dedication, we wouldn’t be anywhere.”
Where they usually are is winning titles, which brings us to Bovich’s highlight reel as a Dreadnaught. “My favorite moment was jumping in the pool with the whole team after winning the state championship in 2019,” he says.
Dexter has a pretty young team in 2022 but the times are falling and the wins are piling up.
“We’ve started off pretty strong this season, but we’re definitely going to face some challenges soon going up against Saline and (defending state Division 1 champion) Pioneer,” Bovich says. “We’ve got a pretty young team and I’m looking forward to seeing who is going to step up this season.”
That’s the great thing about great teams – someone usually steps up.
“The keys to accomplishing our goals are showing up to every practice, working as hard as we can, but most importantly to have faith in the coach’s training and planning,” Bovich says.
Bovich has been swimming primarily the 100 back and 100 fly this season. While he hasn’t qualified for States yet in those events, he has stamped his ticket as a member of the medley relay.
But Bovich should get those individual times he needs. Last year as a junior, he finished fourth in both the fly and backstroke at the D-2 State Finals. As a freshman, he finished third in the conference in the 100 back and 32nd at the state meet.
The state meet was canceled his sophomore year because of Covid.
Stuart, 18, is the son of Tim and Joane Bovich. He swims to a 3.98 unweighted/4.32 weighted GPA and is the National Honors Society Committee Chair.
Swimming runs in the Bovich family and that’s how Stuart first jumped into the sport.
“My interest in swimming started back around second grade,” he says. “My sister used to dive in Milan and I just enjoyed being at the pool, so I thought I might as well give swimming a shot. I immediately loved it. I just enjoyed being in the water.”
He has been a member of the Saline Swim Team for two years and before that swam for DCAC.
Bovich has decided to take another lap with swimming at the next level.
“I have committed to continuing my swimming career at the College of Wooster,” he said. “I chose to go there because of the strong sense of community and the very welcoming environment of the campus. I intend to study economics and physics. I plan on going to law school after this.”
