Wolves will only get better

Already with its first district titles, Newsome could be a county power for a long time.

By THOMAS SIMONETTI
Published November 3, 2005

It seemed like the Newsome boys and girls swim teams came out of nowhere this season to win its first district titles.

The boys won two of three relays and four individual events to finish well above the field at the district meet and could send four individuals to the state meet after a good showing at the regions. The girls took just one event at districts, the 400-yard freestyle relay, but placed well in every event and won by 102 points.

After not sending a single swimmer to the state meet last season, two factors contributed to the Wolves' emergence.

One was a move out of a difficult Class A (and its many privates schools) to 2A. Another is the number of boys and girls swimming for the Blue Wave club team and coach Peter Banks.

"That's the heart of our team," coach Joanne Grogan said. "They can only get better working with Peter. They work very hard, and Peter works them very hard."

Banks, who has coached former Olympians such as Brooke Bennett (Durant) and Maritza Correia (Tampa Bay Tech), is working with 10 of Newsome's swimmers as well as many of the other top swimmers in the county.

One of the Blue Wave swimmers is Newsome freshman Jason Taylor. Taylor won the 200 and 500 free at the district meet and finished second in the 500 free at the region meet.

"Hopefully, he's on track to be one of the marquee swimmers in the area over the next few years," Banks said.

Taylor leads a Newsome team that is filled with youth. All seven of the Wolves on the Blue Wave are freshmen or sophomores.

Depending on the results of the final region meet, sophomore Aleks Ans could reach state in the 200 individual medley after finishing fourth at the region meet. He made the region meet this season as an individual after going only on a relay last season. He said he is excited about swimming with the Wolves in the years to come.

"I think the team as a whole has improved a lot this season," Ans said.

Sophomores Justin Waterman and Dan Clancy, both Blue Wave swimmers, also could sneak into the state field after good showings at the region meet. Waterman finished third in the 100 fly and Clancy fifth in the 500 free.

If the Wolves are going to continue to be one of the top teams, they're going to have to have a lot of swimmers on teams such as the Blue Wave. With the success of many of the club swimmers in the area, more and more kids will start to join in.

"The ones on the club teams raise the expectations of the other swimmers," said Banks, who added he hopes the success of his swimmer inspires other kids to swim year-round.

If more of that happens at Newsome, watch out.

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 01:07:13]