By TYLER DRUMMOND
of The Gazette
Although the Stevens Point Area Senior High school (SPASH) boys swimming team is young and inexperienced, that hasn't stopped its members from making some waves this year in the pool.
"We have 11 swimmers who never swam competitively before this season," said head coach Rich Burhite. "With nine or 10 of them, it was like we had to teach them to swim."
SPASH is swimming this season with eight seniors among the 21 swimmers on the team.
"It's been a long season in the respect from where we started," said Burhite. "It's also been very rewarding to see where this team has gotten to."
For the Panthers this year, a few swimmers have stepped up and established themselves in the pool, starting with senior Josh Seibert who excels at the 50-yard freestyle. "It's Josh's second year as the team captain," said Burhite. "He's an excellent team leader and a great swimmer."
Also stepping up for the Panthers is sophomore Phillip Potter in the 100 and 200 freestyle, Evan Prince in the 200 individual medley and the breast stroke, and Aaron Tetzloff in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
Siebert, Prince, Potter and Tetzloff all figure to compete in the state meet as the swimmers who make up the Panther 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Siebert, Potter and Prince also have a shot to compete individually in their respective specialties.
Although the Panthers haven't won any invitationals, they stand a strong chance to do well at the conference meet on Feb. 7. "It'll be Wausau, Rhinelander and us in contention for the title," said Burhite.
As for Burhite, this is his eighth year as the head coach of the Panther swim team. "I enjoy the kids and working with them," said Burhite. "There's an awful lot of time involved in December through February. There isn't much free time that we're not spending on a bus or in a pool. The last two years we've put on 2,400 miles on school buses."
Burhite is also not afraid to admit that he feels swim practices are the hardest of any competitive sport. "There have been studies done, and swimming is the most physically demanding."
Burhite feels that if more students knew that, there'd be more kids trying out for the team. "They don't think swimmers are athletes," said Burhite. "If they knew how hard we have to work and how much exercise we get I think there'd be more interest."