The Fighting Irish finished in first place at the TAPPS Division I state meet. The victory marks the 33rd state title for Cathedral in the sport of swimming, and the second state title win for Cathedral head coach Calvin Zielsdorf, Class of ‘01.

The Irish Swim Team has won 33 state championships since the 1980’s. The history of Cathedral’s most dominant sport includes five Olympic Trial Qualifiers with two swimmers going on to swim for Mexico in the Olympics, 23 High School All-Americans, and over 100 who went on to be college athletes at Stanford, Harvard, Texas A&M, TCU, Williams College, Cornell, SMU, the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, University of Virginia, Incarnate Word, Wayland Baptist University, and many more.

Coach Zielsdorf knows a lot about winning. He won four state swimming titles as a student at Cathedral, swam for Texas A&M, and was an Olympic trials participant.

Zielsdorf took the reins of the program in 2018 when Jack White, his former coach and mentor, retired. This was the second straight state title victory for Cathedral.

About his first state title as coach he said, “I couldn’t be prouder of them. They really stepped it up,” Zielsdorf said. “This was the truest form of a team win.”

Jack White swam for Eastwood High School and started coaching at Cathedral in 1985 alongside Leo Cancellare. White also coached the Aqua Posse Swim Club. He would go on to lead Cathedral to 31 state team championships on the private school level. The state titles came at the TAPPS and TCIL levels. Cathedral, an all boys schools, competes in TAPPS.

Jack White was inducted into the El Paso Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. At the time of his induction, White’s Cathedral teams held an all-time dual meet record of 279-1. A powerful force, he had a major impact on his athletes and the people with whom he worked.

Coach White retired from teaching in May, 2021 just as his son, Conner White, was preparing to graduate from the University of Permian Basin. Conner attended college on a swimming scholarship and set school records. Coach White died suddenly in November, 2021, leaving a big void and big shoes to fill.

“The win was bittersweet because of Coach Jack’s passing. The seniors on the team said, ‘This one’s for Coach White’ and placed a banner and trophy with his photo inside the school for everyone to see”, said Atheletic Director Carlos Puertas, Class of ‘98.

Before Coach Zielsdorf and Coach White, there was Leo Cancellare. In 1994, Leo Cancellare became the first lay principal in the history of Cathedral High School. Cancellare was known for walking the hallways screaming, “It’s a great day to be an Irishman”, for all to hear.

Leo Cancellare was the head coach of the El Paso Aqua Posse from 1979-1999, and was a dynamic force in West Texas swimming. He took Cathedral to a state swimming title for the first time in 1987. That team was ranked 14th in the nation. In 1994 and 2001 the Irish were the 4th ranked high school swim team in the country, their highest finish to date and in 2015 ranked 11th. Coach Cancellare passed away in 1999 at age 41 after a year-long battle with cancer.