Coming off what was one of the more successful seasons for the Lenoir City swim team, both for high school and middle school, the Panthers held an end of season banquet Friday night at Central United Methodist Church in Lenoir City.

Coaches recognized each swimmer for what they brought to the team, whether it be hard work, improvement, leadership or just outstanding performance in the pool.

"We just bonded as a team and we just had a blast," head high school coach Kendahl McMahan said, who has coached the team for three seasons. "This has been the best year so far for me. I think the seniors had a blast. We just worked hard and our hard work paid off. I just couldn't be more excited for them and more pleased."

The high school team send eight swimmers to state championship meet this season, which is the highest total the team has ever sent.

"We just had a great year," McMahan said. "We had a lot of great kids who just wanted to get better and learn and just great kids all around. When you have a great group of kids you're going to do well."

Lenoir City's middle school swimmers also had a very strong season. They finished fourth overall at the Knox-area Interscholastic Swim League middle school championship with 14 top eight finishers and six top three finishers.

"We had a great season and some really good times," middle school coach Jamie Yoder said. "We had a lot of swimmers who put in a lot of work and a lot of effort. I'm looking forward to a lot of them swimming this summer with me."

Both McMahan and Yoder have committed to returning for the 2013-2014 season. Both teams will return a number of strong swimmers and are hoping to improve on the success of this season.