GOLD COAST — The swim team record board at Latin School of Chicago used to have Zach Spreitzer's name all over it.
When he graduated in 1995, he held the school record in every singles event. He had one relay record, too.
But over the years, his times were bested, and in 2013, now-senior Jacob Cruger beat Spreitzer's only remaining record in the 50-meter freestyle.
On Friday evening, during a swim meet that pitted alumni against current Latin students, Spreitzer got to meet Cruger, who was born the same year Spreitzer graduated. The two faced off in the 50-meter freestyle.
As he stood beside the record board just before the meet began, Spreitzer, 37, wasn't exactly feeling confident he could reclaim his glory from the 18-year-old Cruger.
"I'm pretty confident I might have a mild heart-attack," Spreitzer joked.
But winning was not really the point of Friday's meet.
Coaches for the men's swim team reached out to alumni after their only home swim meet was canceled last week. As in most high school sports, the team was planning to honor its seniors at the meet, who would swim on their home turf for the last time.
"Everyone was devastated," said Danielle Carlson, who coaches the team. "We had to cancel the meet at two o'clock that day, so it was a very last-minute cancelation."
The team was ready to take on Mt. Carmel High School, but a pipe problem caused the water in the pool to get cloudy, which made for unsafe conditions for the swimmers, Carlson said. With sectionals next week, coaches could not find time to reschedule the meet.
So Carlson, who swam at Latin and graduated in 2006, came up with the idea for an alumni swim meet. Twelve alumni, including Carlson, agreed to face off against the swim team.
And that meant the team's two seniors, Cruger and Matt Rauner, got their senior night. Rauner said it was a welcome surprise after last week's meet was canceled.
"I was very excited to swim against the alums," the 17-year-old said. "I was glad our coaches put that together."
Rauner also said the event caused a bit of trash talk between his teammates and Carlson, who was captain of her swim team at Colby College, after they learned she was participating.
"Yes, there was a little bit today," he said with a smile. "She's not in any of my events though, thank God."
Cruger was also glad to hear about the alumni meet and said he was especially excited to get to meet — and compete against — Spreitzer.
"I mean, this is a guy whose name I saw up on that board for years thinking 'Wow, I'd really like to have a chance to be up there like him,' and I'm finally up there," he said. "It's really cool to get to talk to the guy...and then get to race him on top of that. It's awesome."
The alumni were just as excited to get back in the water too, but Carlson said some did have just one request.
"The only thing they expressed a little concern about was having a lot of photos of them taken in swimsuits," she said.
Latin's men's swim team is set to compete in sectionals next weekend at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
