Signs of the beginning of swim season at University School are not difficult to pick up on: swimmers walk around with hair sticking up in all directions, damaged by chorine. Morning practices leave swimmers sleepless as they trudge around half asleep, barely making it up the stairs to class. The bagels, muffins, and McPreppers at break run out every day to fulfill the swimmers’ abundant appetites. These markers are upon the US community once again, and this season provides yet another exciting opportunity for the US swim team.
The 2016-2017 US swim team is young but hungry. After placing 3rd at states, just short of Hawken, and losing 11 seniors, many swimmers and students are wondering how the team will shape up this year. Head coach Brian Perry remains hopeful for the team’s prospects: “We graduated one of the largest senior classes of swimmers in the team’s history, but now that gives people on our team the chance to step up.” Many members of the teams have feelings similar to Coach Perry’s. “We lost a lot of good swimmers last year, but we also have a lot of young talent that can fill in the gaps. We definitely have a chance to do well if we put in the necessary work,” says junior Zach Halawa.
In fact, most of the team has already been hard at work. Almost everyone on the team has either been attending offseason club swim team practices, preseason morning lifts, or both. The team clearly has recognized Coach Perry’s request and is making a solid effort to put themselves in the best possible position for this season.
While the team lost many seniors, it has many new faces. The varsity squad of 19 boys has 4 freshmen: Carter Faulkner, Colin Savage, Frank Applebaum, and Prajwal Guruprasad. The team also has new additions to the coaching staff. Suzanne Gaul and Owen Schaner have joined as assistant coaches. The team also has a new strength training coach, John Collis, owner of the club team Cleveland Swim Institute. Collis brings a lot to the table, as he qualified at the Olympic Trials and was a member of the 1984 Greek Olympic team. His goal is to integrate what the team does in the weight room with what they do in the water to make the strength-training program as effective as possible.
Many strong swimmers are returning this year. Senior Captain Scott Bowman, who finished 8th place in the 100 Butterfly and 3rd place in the 100 Backstroke at States last year, returns with full intentions of outperforming his previous standings. The other returning members of the 2016 State team plan on joining him: Senior Captain Graham Lane, Ethan Banks, Zach Halawa, and Will Zhang. Many others on the team have high hopes of getting on the 2017 state team as well. The team’s 3rd Senior Captain, Hunter Goldberg, hopes to make States this year in the 50 and 100 yard Freestyle.
The team will be challenged many times throughout the year. In January they will face number one rival Hawken, which has an equally strong team this year. Perhaps the team’s biggest challenge will be against St. Xavier from Cincinnati, a team that has won 16 of the past 17 Division 1 state titles. Other major dual meets this season will include teams including St. Ignatius, Orange, St. Edwards, Gilmour, Shaker, and Akron Firestone.
Overall, the team’s morale is high. “I’m super excited!” said sophomore Caleb Peters. The team, despite losing a lot of talent, has great hopes for what they can accomplish. The team is strong in spirit and will put up a great fight against all teams they face. The team’s ultimate goal is to put as many people as possible back at Canton for the state meet in February.
