By Katelyn Massarelli
With many sports taking place during the fall high school season, swimmers are preparing to compete again with their high school teams. Though some high school swimmers will wait until practices start with their high school teams, others will or have been putting in that extra effort by practicing and competing with club swim teams like Bluewave and TBay Brandon. That additional training can mean one less second on a swimmers time that can bring them and the school a state qualification or a school record.
“Having [high school swimmers] swim during the off-season is a big deal and can hopefully help make them successful during their high school season.” Bluewave’s Head Coach Todd Foley said.
According to Foley, Club swimming gives swimmers the chance to intensify their training, improve their technique, and gain a better understanding of the protocol and the environment associated with the sport. Because of that, high school coaches more often than not prefer club swimmers to keep training during the season with their club team and only come to high school practice one day a week to reconnect with the team.
For junior Bloomingdale High School swimmer, Kaden Miller, swimming has been a part of his life for eight years. During his time in high school he has broken school records in events like the 100-yard Backstroke and the 200-yard medley relay and has competed at regionals. Though he spends most of his training time with Bluewave, he is dedicated to going as far as he can with his high school season during the fall with a goal to make it to state this coming fall.
“My [high school] coach is very supportive of club swimming and just asks us to be at team events,” Miller said.
According to TBay Brandon Head Coach Dave Gesacion, the importance behind high school swimmers preparing for their school seasons is refining technique and conditioning themselves for competing while also building leadership skills within the club team in a way they can bring it to their high school team. Gesacion trains his high school swimmers as if they are entering a college swimming season.
For incoming freshman at Durant high school, Morgan Shinault is going in to her first swimming season with goals to make state in the 200-yard Individual Medley (IM) and 500 Freestyle.
According to Shinault, TBay Brandon practices are constantly having swimmers competing and having to keep up with their times.
For information regarding high school swim programs with Bluewave’s swim team, visit www.bluewaveswimming.com. For more about TBay Brandon high school swim, visit www.tbaybrandon.org.
