The clock starts. Freshman Brennen Johnson dives into the water and takes off down the lane. Johnson flip turns and comes back with a lead time of 27.34. Freshman Ray Guerrero dives into the water right after and comes back around. The clock reads 55.3. Sophmore James Long goes in. Freshman Sullivan Dial waits for Long to come back down the lane. Long finishes with a time of 29.34 leaving Dial to finish out the relay. Dial jumps in as the anchor of the team. He touches the timing pad and finishes with 28.27. The clock stops.
On Sept. 5, Dial, Johnson, Long and Guerrero swam the 200-free relay in 1 minutes 52.92 seconds at the Liberty North swim meet, earning them a state consideration cut.
According to Long it was something they will never forget.
Freshman Sullivan Dial swims at the meet against Blue Springs.
Although many know history teacher Ian Johnston as a teacher, the swimmers know him only as their coach. When his team made the state cut, Johnston said that he was thrilled.
Now that the boys are considered for state, they want to be a force to reckon with in the water.
In the past, the team struggled to recruit students. Swim was not recognized as a big sport. Now, the swimmers feel that they finally have their shot at being known around the school.
“It feels good because I know this is the first time in a long time that this school has had something like that,” Guerrero said.
Johnston, who coaches all four district high school boys’ swim teams, is very happy with how the Winnetonka swim program is expanding and growing.
Having a team of strong freshman and sophomores is exciting according to Johnston, who said that he looks forward to seeing their improvement in the water over the next few years.
Johnston is working to help the team improve by giving them a variety of different workouts.
Freshman Ray Guerrero swims the second leg of the 200-free relay. On Sept. 5 ray was a part of the relay that earned a state consideration cut.
Johnston said the team benefits from working-out with the other three district schools.
Although they compete against each other, according to Johnston, the chemistry between the schools is strong and supportive.
Although he treats all four teams equally, Johnston said it’s personally rewarding to have the relay team that made the consideration cut come from Winnetonka.
Although having state swimmers is good, Johnston said that the most rewarding part of coaching is seeing athletes learn and doing something different.