Mason swimming and diving’s big three of divers Maddie Sewell and Sean Sargent and swimmer Zoe Thatcher led the way, but the Comets got plenty of other impressive performances at last weekend’s 30th annual Southwest Ohio Swimming and Diving Classic.

Mason’s girls finished fourth out of 39 teams while the boys finished 11th out of 41 teams in the meet, the largest regular-season high school swimming event in the country. The swimming finals were contested at Keating Natatorium on the St. Xavier High School campus.

Thatcher, the defending Division I 500-yard freestyle state champion and runner-up in the 200 free, got the girls started by winning the 500 and finishing second in the 200 on Saturday. She followed up by winning the 1,650 freestyle and finishing sixth in the 200 backstroke before swimming the anchor leg for the 400 freestyle relay team that finished fifth.

The junior has been working on trying to pace herself more, instead of starting strong and trying to hold on at the end, she said.

“I’ve also been working on my kick,” she said, adding that the adjustments seemed to be paying off. “I’ve been posting faster times. “

Thatcher set the meet’s 500 free record, finishing in a time of 4 minutes, 50.73 seconds, breaking the previous record of 4:53.10 set in 2007. That enhanced her appreciation of excelling at the prestigious Classic.

“This meet is really exciting,” Thatcher said. “It really helps you get into the mindset of getting ready for the big post-season meets.”

Mason is scheduled to host the Greater Miami Conference championship meet on Feb. 1-2. Division I sectional swimming and diving starts Feb. 5 at various sites, including Mason.

Sewell and Sargent swept the diving championships Sunday morning and early afternoon at the University of Cincinnati’s Keating Aquatics Center. Sewell, the Classic girls diving champion as a sophomore two years ago and runner-up last year, set the meet record by piling up 494.15 points in the finals.

The Michigan State-bound Sewell, who finished fifth in the state last year, has been working on improving her twists and reverses, she said. She posted one of her higher scores with her last dive of the second round, a reverse 1-1/2 tuck.

“They’ve been pretty scary,” she said. “Hopefully, (the championship) will get me set up for the rest of the season.”

Sargent, a Miami recruit who’s won back-to-back Classic titles and finished sixth in the state last season, also believes winning the Classic puts him on a good track.

“It’s a good indication of where you are in the season,” he said. “It lets you know what you have to work on and polish.”

Sewell and Sargent have known each other since they started doing tumbling and trampolines together at age 5 or 6, said their coach, Lori Rapp.

“They push each other in good ways,” she said. “They support each other.”

Joining Thatcher among Mason girls with top eight finishes in the Classic were junior Caroline Heyward with a fifth in the 50 butterfly, classmate Maureen Sullivan with a seventh in the 50 free, freshman Gabby Marinelli with a sixth in the 100 free, and three sophomores: Elizabeth Troy with an eighth in the 200 freestyle, Julia Volpenhein with an eighth in the 50 free, and Anna Cicero with a sixth in the 100 individual medley.

Marinelli, Troy and Volpenhein joined Thatcher on the 400 freestyle relay team.

Mason boys who finished in the top eight were junior Eric Chen with a third in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 free and senior Drave Penley with a sixth in the 100 IM. Chen also swam the anchor on the 400 freestyle relay that tied Moeller for fourth. Sophomores Justin Hove and Nick Gess and senior Drew Siekmann also were on the team.