St. Ed’s varsity swim teams placed second (boys) and sixth (girls) in the district meet last week at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce. A strong team from Cocoa Beach High dominated by sweeping both events.
Those results nevertheless qualified a number of Pirate swimmers for a trip to the same pool for the regional meet Saturday. Four boys in that group are vying for the state meet after that.
Numerous school records were established throughout the season. Head Coach Gavin Ross has seen the middle schoolers he started with several years ago mature into swimmers poised to compete with the best in the state.
“We had a great build-up to the postseason,” said Ross, now in his sixth year as head coach. “The boys were 6-1 and the girls 3-4. Those were the best records they’ve had since I’ve been here. We got off to a great start.”
Ross has to be pleased with the results even if they were just short of rising expectations. The competition was extensive as nine boys teams and 10 girls teams scored points at the district meet.
While the boys are poised to do well in several events at regional and state meets, the girls team is in the early stages of following the same blueprint that helped those boys develop over time.
“Eight of the 12 girls we sent to districts are from middle school.” Ross said. “They’re very young but also enthusiastic. I’ve got all the patience in the world to build up this team. The 7th and 8th graders are an especially strong group. They’re on a three-year plan to make top three at districts, and maybe top ten at regionals. We can’t ask for more.
“In terms of commitment, I don’t have one girl on the club team that swims year-round. Hopefully these middle schoolers change that. I’m not necessarily looking for 100 percent commitment; I just want them to spend more time swimming with the club team. That’ll help the varsity team as well.”
Ross estimates this group of girls is not yet ready for state level competition, but his expectations have grown dramatically for the boys.
“The training had already begun for the boys,” Ross explained before the district meet “We want to get the right events that can set up the swimmers to go to states. I would like to see two boys relay teams get there this year.
“Junior Andrew Brown is leading the pack. I want him to get some really nice times for his college recruitment profile. He will lead off the 200 and 400 freestyle relay races. With Andrew leading off, hopefully the whole team will make it.
Brown is also tapped to advance in the individual 200 free and 100 butterfly.
The relay race “pack” that Brown leads co-stars juniors Spencer Greaves, Coleman Kramer and sophomore Tomas Botero. This group shows the efficacy of long-term training that Ross would like to see for the young girls.
“Brown, Kramer, Greaves and Botero have been together since Tomas was in 6th grade,” Ross said. “This is the fourth year they have been gelling as a team (and setting new school records – one in the 200 freestyle relay almost 20 years old). They know the finer points of how to shave off a fraction of a point.
“The best training starts when kids are in middle school. That’s what happened with this core group of boys. They came through and now they are creating some big fireworks.”
The show at states started last year when Brown, Greaves, Kramer and Botero swam the 200 medley relay final.
District trials were promising. The gifted quartet won the boys 200 free relay by .02 of a second and the 400 freestyle relay by better than six seconds. Brown and Greaves were one-two in the 100 fly. Kramer was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley. Botero was second in the 500 free.
St. Ed’s Aquatics offers year-round swimming programs supervised by Ross. As a result, he’ll also closely watch swimmers from Vero Beach High in the regional and state meets.
“Some of their (VBHS) top swimmers – mostly boys but I have some girls now, too – are on the club team here,” Ross said. “That’s why we race Vero twice every year. That gives me an opportunity to see my swimmers in action as often as possible. I’ve been to state championships with my swimmers from both schools. It’s wonderful that I am able to guide them in those big meets.”
