Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 25, 1992 TAG: 9201240309
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Long
SOUTHWEST AQUATIC TEAM HAS MEMBERS TO MATCH NAME
When swimming coach Bill Beecher took a small Pulaski-based team and named it the Southwest Aquatic Team in 1988, he wasn't experiencing chlorine-induced delusions of grandeur.With a few team members traveling substantial distances to practices at the Pulaski YMCA, Beecher had reason to include an entire geographic region in his team title.
Also, Beecher's team - which previously had competed only in YMCA winter competition - was taking the plunge into United States Swimming-sanctioned events. Beecher envisioned growth and prosperity in the years to come.
He was right.
SWAT begins 1992 with an all-time high 96 members. And, with nearly half of those swimmers from Pearisburg, Wytheville, Galax, Hillsville and Blacksburg, the "SW" in SWAT is no longer silent.
"The Pulaski YMCA serves a great deal of Southwest Virginia," Beecher said. "It's the only Y west of Roanoke until Bristol, and it's one of the few places that offers year-round swimming.
"Our team encompasses a fairly big area. That's why we went with SWAT instead of naming it after Pulaski or Radford. There's not one main location for the team or the swimmers."
Beecher's team, which now competes in YMCA leagues as well as USS events, experienced its biggest growth spurt in 1991.
Last February, the board of directors of the Blacksburg-based Sunfish swim team voted to join forces with SWAT for both USS and YMCA winter team competition.
The Sunfish had been involved with a Roanoke Y team, but the board thought Beecher's team was a better match. In addition to being closer than Roanoke, SWAT offers more stability for the Blacksburg program.
James Wolfle, a Blacksburg High and Penn State graduate, coaches the younger Blacksburg swimmers, who still practice on the campus of Virginia Tech. The senior swimmers from Blacksburg travel to Beecher's practices at the Pulaski Y or at Radford University's Dedmon Center.
"We have 96 kids now, and the highest we ever had before was 54," Beecher said. "James Wolfle is doing a very good job in Blacksburg, and they were starting to grow before they joined us.
"They were an established program, and we're very pleased that they wanted to become part of us. I think it's worked well."
While being part of a growing, competitive team is good news for the out-of-town members, the bad news is a schedule made hectic by travel.
Of the 96 team members, more than 20 have a lengthy commute to practice. Seven come from the Galax-Hillsville area, seven from Wytheville, three from Pearisburg and the four seniors from Blacksburg.
Practice is held five times a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - totalling 10 hours of pool time for senior members and seven hours for age-group swimmers.
"You get used to it, but it's tiring," said Ricky Jennings, 15, a four-year SWAT member who endures a 45-minute drive to practice from his Pearisburg home. Jennings, a sophomore at Giles High School, placed second in the state Group A cross country meet last fall.
"It seems like the drive is half of practice, but it's worth it," he said. "Swimming is very important to me."
But Jennings' commute seems light when compared to those of the Galax members, who face a 65- to 75-minute trek to Radford practices, about 20 minutes less to the practices in Pulaski.
Mary Mitchell, 14, gets home from Galax High School at 3:20, leaves for practice at 3:30 and returns home between 8 and 8:30. Not surprisingly, she isn't too crazy about the lengthy rides.
"It stinks," Mitchell said. "I have to stay up until 11 or 12 at night just to get everything done."
For Jennings and Mitchell - and all of the roving pool-rats - naps and homework are essential traveling activities.
"It's definitely hard for them," Beecher said. "It takes a very big commitment. I think most of them think it's worth it, though. They must enjoy it and think it's worthwhile, or they wouldn't still be doing it."
But as is so often the case, the parents are the hidden heroes here. SWAT parents somehow find a way to get their kids from dry land to pool, and back.
If Mitchell makes every practice, her parents put 600 miles a week on the family automobile.
"Every year, it's more and more time-consuming," said Rose Jennings, Ricky's mother. Jennings car-pools with another Galax family and Rose Jennings, who is a school bus driver, has been on SWAT weekend duty for the past three years.
"It is hard, but it's worth it," she said. "Bill is a good coach, and the swimmers are a bunch of good kids. It keeps them out of trouble, at least.
"Ricky has a future in swimming. He appreciates what we do for him, and he is dedicated. If it wasn't for these things, we just couldn't put the time in."
"It's given my child the opportunity to set and reach goals," said Mitchell's mother, Mary. "It helps with self-esteem and confidence, and the kids get to travel and see different parts of the country.
"I provide the wheels and encouragement, and the rest is up to my child and her coach. The time spent with Bill is good time. He's clued into where they are as teen-agers, and works with them well.
"If this was just moving through the water, it wouldn't be worth it."