The story of how Hinsdale Central’s Matt and Luke Vatev first got in a pool is a common one.
What happened next is not.
“Funny enough, my mom isn’t the most talented swimmer in a body of water,” Luke Vatev said. “If we swam in the ocean, she would struggle. She really doesn’t know how to swim.
“My dad is a big adventure outdoors guy, so he swims in lakes and has fun with it. But neither of them swam competitively.”
The Vatevs’ father, Dan, who was born and raised in Bulgaria, and their mother, Christine, who was born in the Philippines and emigrated as a small child, work in the medical field and met at a hospital in Chicago.
“They wanted us to learn how to swim because it’s such an important life skill,” Luke Vatev said. “Water safety is truly a necessity.”
That started early.
“We got lessons at the YMCA when we were 3,” Luke Vatev said. “We’re just very fortunate to be super talented at it and have such a great support group that made us the swimmers we are.”
Matt Vatev, a senior who has committed to Penn, and Luke Vatev, a junior who has committed to Stanford, are the best swimmers in the state this season. They proved that in emphatic fashion at the state meet at FMC Natatorium in Westmont on Feb. 28, leading the Red Devils to their fourth consecutive state championship
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.Hinsdale Central, which scored 251 points to beat runner-up Marmion by 37, is the first team to win four straight titles since St. Charles won five in a row in the 1980s and is the first to achieve the feat twice.
The Vatevs led the way in their final meet together.
“I don’t think we have enough time to talk about those two boys,” Hinsdale Central coach Bob Barber said. “Their commitment to the sport and being the best that they can be has been really hard to match.
“It’s just taken this team’s growth and made us rise to another level, and I think that started before they even got on this team. They’re very in tune with their bodies and the sport.”
The Vatevs are also in tune with their teammates’ abilities. Their opinions inform Barber’s decisions.
“These guys help me write lineups. They help me write practices,” Barber said. “With their approach on things, they’ve thought about everyone and where they could be.
“I’ve got Matt Vatev’s lineup sheets for two years in a row. All the guys are doing it. They just happen to be the ones sharing it. That’s how much of a team they are.”
Barber said he and the Vatevs rarely disagree.
“There’s a lot of confidence, and they should have it because they can do quite a lot of things, but what they know that we don’t know as coaches is that they swim with these guys all the time,” Barber said. “Their club has set them up so well.”
While the Red Devils have a deep well of talent, the Vatevs led them this season. So it was again at the state meet. Luke Vatev won two individual state titles, and Matt Vatev won one and placed third in another race. They also swam on two relay teams that won state titles.
“It’s very incredible, very amazing and truly the best blessing that I could ever ask for, having a training partner throughout my club and high school careers pushing me every day, in and out of the pool, holding me accountable,” Matt Vatev said. “We push each other to new heights, like you’ve seen today, and just keep going.
“It’s really fun, really amazing, and I truly couldn’t ask for a better brother.”
Or a better ending. Expectations were high going into the state meet, but the Vatevs had a simple goal.
“Set the standard and help everyone get better and having some fun while doing it,” Matt Vatev said.
That goal was accomplished. Luke Vatev, the 2025 state champion in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke, won the 200 free in 1:34.89. That was just a prelude of an incredible ending in which the Red Devils won the final four events of the meet, breaking state records in three of them.
First, the quartet of Luke Vatev, Matt Vatev and seniors Teddy Chase and Brandon Suliga won the 200 free relay in a state-record 1:20.23.
Luke Vatev followed by breaking his state record in the 100 backstroke, winning in 46.17.
“That was really exciting to see,” Matt Vatev said. “He lit up the room, lit up the pool. Seeing him win the 100 back in pretty distinguished fashion was really fun.
“I had to follow in his footsteps, get my own title.”
But Matt Vatev felt no pressure.
“I was just wanting to have some fun because I got the state record yesterday,” he said. “So today was to win an event and go break another record in the relay with him.”
Matt Vatev succeeded, winning the 100 breaststroke in 53.47 one day after setting the state record of 52.83 in the preliminaries.
That set up the finale, and the Red Devils didn’t disappoint. Luke Vatev, Matt Vatev, Suliga and Chase delivered another state record, winning the 400 free relay in 2:58.41.
“It’s amazing,” Luke Vatev said. “I just have to give props to the team. It wasn’t just Matt and I. We have a lot of studs on our team.
“Teddy Chase and Brandon Suliga are such special swimmers, and we’re so lucky to have them in our program.”
Luke Vatev said breaking state records “means so much,” but doing it with his brother by his side made it even better.
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Matt Vatev is the third Hinsdale Central swimmer to commit to Penn in as many seasons, joining Jeffrey Hou and Henry Guo. Like those former and future teammates, Matt Vatev graduates with a team state title.
“It’s really special,” Luke Vatev said. “I think this weekend it became real that it’s our last meet together, especially on this high school team. It was truly a remarkable experience swimming with him.
“He’s such a great leader, and for him to be a team captain, he stepped up this weekend and swam some incredible races. His 100 breast was just so electric. I’m going to miss him next year, but I’m grateful for it to have happened.”
Matt Vatev will miss his brother and all of his teammates.
“It’s a time to cherish, a great way to cap this off,” he said. “We set some records. These boys become your brothers through all the hard work and training that we go through and all the success we have and all the ambition and drive we have every day.
“It’s really special and something we’ll remember forever.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.