Scott Swanson
Wanted: Girls (and boys) who aren’t afraid of water and work.
That’s the word from Doug Peargin, who is beginning his 37th year of coaching swimming at Sweet Home High School.
Peargin says the Huskies are facing a challenge: How to repeat as district champion with a depleted girls team.
“It’s going to be an interesting year,” he said “Our numbers are a wee bit down this year.”
The boys team looks better, he said, with three returning scorers from the state meet among the 18 boys who are out. Two state meet swimmers are back for the girls, but what’s lacking is the depth necessary to be competitive at the district level. The Huskies have eight girls ready to swim going into their first meet, Friday at home against Cascade and Blanchet. Last year they had 16 on the roster.
“The last three or four years we’ve graduated an awful lot of quality people, both girls and boys,” Peargin said. “Last year we graduated nine seniors, both boys and girls. “
They included Sami Webb, who won a state title in the 500 freestyle, and Niccole Simmonds, who helped the girls to their first state trophy – fourth place – in the history of the program. On the boys side, Alex Stupin, who also medaled at the state meet, is gone.
He sees a couple of problems that may be contributing to the lack of numbers.
One is that 16 prospects who signed up have dropped out.
“They think they can show up with a swimsuit and a suntan and compete,” Peargin said. “It’s work.”
The other challenge is the ongoing question of the pool’s future, which will be on the ballot next year in a request for a levy by the school district.
“I think some of it is due to the school board continually talking about cutting the pool, “ he said. “It has to have some effect on kids’ thinking. Why go out for swimming if they’re going to cut the sport?”
Peargin said the boys are looking competitive with plenty of returning experience from last year’s team, which placed third in state after winning state titles the previous two years.
Leading the way are seniors Zac Pearce, who won his second straight state title in the 200 IM and placed second in the 500 freestyle, and Gravy Gunselman, who placed in both the 100 butterfly and third in the 100 backstroke. Also back is senior Don Rockstead, who was a member of two medal-winning relays at state for the Huskies.
“We’ve got people coming back who are tested,” Peargin said. “We’re a little deeper and tested than we are on the girls team. We’ve got three people coming back who know what it takes. Pearce and Gunselman medaled in four events and Rockstead in two.”
The boys are strong in the middle as well, with returnees including district place-winners Bryce Roberts, Cory Martin and Jake Johnson, all seniors, and juniors Victor Stupin and Sten Weld. Junior Zane Jackson, who also placed in last year’s districts, is recovering from a football injury, so isn’t swimming at this point.
Peargin said he has some promising newcomers in freshmen Ryan Yon and Jaeger Howatt.
The departure of Simmonds and Webb leaves the girls with some big holes to fill, in addition to the lack of depth they normally enjoy.
“There’s quite a bit of power there,” Peargin said.
But the cupboard is not bare.
Back are two swimmers, junior Naomi Gunselman and senior Kimber Swanson, who have state experience, in addition to junior Emily Thompson, who placed in two individual events at district last year.
Plus, senior Katie Turner and sophomore Emily Claborn, both of whom missed placing in district by one spot in individual events, return, along with junior Paige Sanders, who swam on point-scoring relay teams. Two recent additions to the team
“All the girls coming back pulled points for us,” Peargin said. “But it’s going to be a challenging year, especially for the girls. We have kids coming in on relay who haven’t been tested. It will be a fun year to see people step up and make the relays for the girls.
“At the district championships, depth is essential if you’re looking for a championship. It’s like wrestling. If you can’t get a second wrestler in there (in a weight division) to pull points for you, you’re not going to win a district championship.”
Newcomers for the girls are Japanese exchange student Shiho Harada, a senior, and freshman McKenzie Curtis.
Peargin said Curtis has shown promise.
“She has limited experience but I think she will help us out. I think she will catch on quicker than the rest of our people and I hope she’ll step in as a rookie and help us out.”
Harada is also new to competitive swimming, he said. “She has a long way to go but she works hard.”
Ana Chang and Anastasiya Domashenko, two other exchange students, from Taiwan and from Russia, have also indicated they’re interested in swimming.
Peargin said he believes Sisters could be the girls team to beat in the District 3 competition. The Outlaws, who placed fourth last year, return all their swimmers from that team. Stayton and Philomath, which were second and third behind Sweet Home, are also back with “a lot of power,” he said.
On the boys side, he sees the biggest challenge coming from Central. The Panthers graduated one swimmer on their boys team and placed third. Their relay teams, which placed fifth in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays at state, are back, he said.
“They will be a real contender at the district level, as well as Philomath and, hopefully, us,” he said. “Sisters is the outside dark horse. A lot of those kids swim with the Bend club year round, like Philomath swims with Corvallis and Central with Salem.”
The Huskies open their season Friday at 4 p.m. in a home meet against Blanchet and Cascade.
Pearce, Naomi and Gravy Gunselman, and Rockstead – all of whom swim with the Sweet Home Swim Club, will compete at a Corvallis meet that day, so “that gives the rest a chance to win events and find out what they can do on their own,” Peargin said.