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As high school sports require more time and expertise, the Chardon Hilltoppers swim program offers a more inclusive high school experience.
The dedicated can join the less dedicated to build something special.
Not many seniors have the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
But you can check in to swimming just before you graduate, and Chardon’s program, in its second varsity year, is attracting a unique group of older students looking to try a new sport and stay in shape before moving on.
No previous laps required.
Chardon’s swim team celebrated its 12 seniors last week at a Jan. 15 meet against Western Reserve Conference rivals Mayfield and Riverside. There are 18 girls and 11 boys on the team.
Captains like Sam Marra and Megan St. Jean joined first-year swimmers like Hannah Adkins.
Adkins said her friends always swam, so the senior thought it would be cool to try. Her first week she struggled to swim 100 yards.
“Now I’m swimming 500 (yards) at practice,” she said. “I’m dying at the end of it, but I’m able to do it. It makes me feel really good, and I’m really proud of myself for how far I’ve come.”
Most new swimmers agree: It’s really hard.
“You use every muscle in your body,” Adkins continued. “You just don’t take into account all the work it is, and how hard it is.”
“Practices are brutal. They kill you,” said junior David Nedrow, swimming in his first season, who wanted something to do in the winter time and figured swimming would keep him in shape.
“But it’s a lot of fun. I’m not the best at the sport, but I’ll do it again next year.”
It’s been just two seasons for senior Kathryn Fairbanks, who decided swimming was good to do after the marching band season ended in November. Fairbanks previously swam, but when she was much younger.
“It’s kind of challenging at times because it’s such a short season,” Fairbanks said. “It’s hard to reach your goals in a short amount of time.”
Cassidy King grew up playing basketball during her winters, but after her senior soccer season, she switched course.
“This is my new sport,” King said. “I just wasn’t feeling basketball anymore. I thought I’d try it because it seems fun.”
She swam for the Chardon Sharks, a youth team, when she “was a tadpole,” she joked.
“It’s kind of hard because you can’t breathe when you want to. I used to be pretty bad, but I’m getting better.”
Senior Jared Bost started swimming three years ago when his brother, Alec, convinced him to try it. Now the sprinter and breast-stroker sees a growing program.
“There’s a lot of swimming going on in the community,” he said.
Head coach Matt Parrish and swim parent Kim Marra are the main reasons why the program started, continued to grow and is now a legitimate sport written on student’s lettermen jackets at Chardon High School.
Parrish, who was an outstanding high school swimmer at Michigan, voted swimmer of the century, also leads the Geauga Otters, a club team, and the Chardon Sharks, a rec team.
“The parents are so great and supportive,” Parrish has said. “We couldn’t do any of this without them, like running the meets.”
Marra is the swim mom, helping with swim records, updating swimmers with emails, and promoting the sport every chance she gets.
Her son Sam holds seven school records, including best individual times in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard breast stroke. He is a four-year swimmer, along with Megan Chapin (distance and sprint free); Alexandria Lancaster (butterfly and backstroke); and Megan St. Jean (medley, breast and free).
Everett McFarland holds five school records as a junior.
“It’s a really great sport with lots of teamwork involved,” McFarland said.
Rachel Lannon has swam three years, with Bost. And Fairbanks and Michaela Rodriguez, good friends, have swam together for two years.
This is the closest Hilltoppers swim team yet, Rodriguez thinks. “It’s just a lot more fun because everyone gets along,” she said. “It’s a lot of commitment.”
There are two standout freshmen from whom Parrish expects big things: Dominic Arganti already holds four school records in his first varsity season, and Katherine Jerry has been dominant, with four school records in individual events, which doesnvt include the relays.
The girls scored victories against Mayfield and Riverside, even though Mayfield had won the WRC conference tournament on Jan. 9. The boys did not fare as well, losing to both.
But both programs are well placed for the sectionals tournament that begins the second week of February.
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