The parade to the podium by North Whidbey Aquatic Club members at the recent Pacific Northwest Swimming championships was not by accident. It was a pleasant end to a journey jammed with hard work.
Competitive swimming combines precise technique with strength, stamina and will power to shave hundreds of a second off times to maximize success. The elimination of those quick tics on a stop watch are a result of relentless training.
NWAC head coach Neil Romney said the older members of the club who are driven to succeed practice nine times a week with three days of doubles; they take Sundays off. This continues throughout most of the year; the only lull comes in August.
It all adds up to 17.5 hours of training per week, which is at the low end of the competitive schedule, according to Romney. He said, “Many swimmers will put in 20-or-more hours per week, but we try to let them have a life.”
Not all members of the local club follow such a rigorous schedule. Romney said, “We try to foster a team atmosphere and we want to accommodate the recreational swimmer; they make up most of the program. We also want to offer the most aspiring kids a chance to excel. It’s my obligation to give that opportunity to the highly competitive kids.”
The younger competitive swimmers have a scaled-back schedule. Romney said they do not do doubles and put in as many as 13 hours per week. Generally, he said, the athletes start doing doubles when they reach middle school, but “some start younger and some never do — we take it on an individual basis.”
Not all of the work is in the water. The 17.5-hour work load includes five hours out of the pool. Romney said, “We believe dry-land work can do a lot of good.” The land workouts include running, medicine ball routines and body-weight exercises.
Romney said the first priority in training is the 400 individual medley. Since all four swimming strokes are involved in the event, it “gives the kids options.” The 400 IM also promotes stamina.
At the PNS championships July 29 through Aug. 1, the NWAC had its most success in the butterfly. Romney said, “We think we can do well in the harder events. The 200 fly is difficult to hold the stroke for the entire event. A lot of kids won’t even try the event because it is so hard.”
A good example of the success of Romney’s training philosophy was Price Hu’s win in the 200 fly. Hu was in only seventh place out of eight racers after 50 meters and was in second after 150. His win, which came in a national junior qualifying time, was “an indication of the importance of conditioning and savvy strategy,” according to Romney.
NWAC’s two other firsts at the PNS championships also came in the butterfly. Ethan Tack won the boys 10-and-under 50 fly, and Laura Rosen took the girls 13-14 200 fly. The NWAC earned seven other top-eight finishes in butterfly events.
Romney said, “We think we can do well in the harder events.”
The NWAC finished ninth in the team standings at the PNS championships, and top-10 finishes in the 50-team meet have become the standard for the local troops under the supervision of Romney. He said, “We are are striving for a level of sustained success.” All this success has come while using a public facility that limits the club’s pool and practice time.
Romney said success boils down to three things.
One, the athlete has to be “relentlessly hungry.”
Two, the parents have to be willing to pay the price, both financially and in time, to support their children.
And three, the coaching and team atmosphere have to prepare and inspire the athlete.
The NWAC has seen unparalleled success this year. Along with Price Hu’s junior national qualifying time, four others have qualified for prestigious post-season meets.
John Hu, Price’s older brother, and Evan Wilson, John Hu’s collegiate teammate at the Stevens Institute in New Jersey, have qualified for the nationals. Less than one-half of one percent of all USA Swimming-registered athletes qualify. Romney said, “If you throw in high school and summer league athletes, it represents an even smaller slice of the competitive swimming pool.” Nationals is an open competition (no age groups) involving world record holders and Olympic gold medalists such as Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol.
John Hu competed at nationals last summer; the first for NWAC in several years.
Rosen, 14, is the first NWAC swimmer to be selected to compete in the North American Challenge Cup, an all-star event for swimmers from Washington, California, Canada and Mexico.
Tack, 10, has been chosen for the Western Zone Championships, an all-star competition involving seven states. He is the first 10-and-under Aquajet to be selected since Rosen in 2006.
The parade continues.
