Whitman's Katie Mahaffie and the rest of Montgomery County high school swim teams will be out of the water for a full two weeks. (Photo by Drew Meyer)
The weekend snowstorm provided area students with an early Christmas present in the form of a few snow days and an extended holiday break. But the early start to the school holiday has cut into swim practice schedules and will keep many teams out of the water for a full two weeks.
Montgomery County dual meets were postponed Saturday and will now be made up on the final day for dual meets – Feb. 6. The divisional dual meets will replace the already scheduled non-divisional meets that round out the regular season schedule for each team.
“If snow wipes a regular dual meet out, then you take away that scrimmage meet and replace it with the missed dual meet,” Whitman Coach Geoff Schaefer said. “That’s what they do and that’s what they’ve always done.”
Still, the lengthy break will result in multiple missed practices for most Maryland high school teams. The time out of the water will likely have little affect on the top athletes, many of whom are members of club teams that will continue to train through the holiday. But it will impact the endurance of swimmers who do not train with club teams – a result that could have an adverse affect on late season performance for area teams that lack the elite talent of some of the area’s top teams.
“My B and C swimmers would have used those practices to prepare for the relay carnival on January 9, but the Division I swimmers all swim club, so it’s not really that big of a deal,” Schaefer said. “Let’s just go enjoy the snow, that’s how I look at it.
“But for some of the other teams, you’ll definitely a difference by February. The endurance will not be there. Two weeks out of the water can really take its toll, unless you’re swimming club practices during the week, you’ll definitely see it.”
Wootton Coach Howard Blume agreed that the weather’s impact on the schedule will be minimal, but that teams with a higher number of club swimmers with access to training facilities during the break will go into 2010 with an edge.
“In the scheme of things with us, it’s not that important,” Blume said. “It’s the kids that belong to their clubs – they go seven, eight, nine times a week, so it’s important that they don’t lose their club time. And obviously the teams with more club swimmers are going to be the better teams.”
Severna Park was fortunate enough to get its meet with Old Mill and Glen Burnie in on Wednesday. The Falcons swept both teams but with Anne Arundel County Public Schools out for two full weeks, Coach Mike McTammany’s swimmers faced the prospect of an extended time out of the water.
“We had our first meet on Friday, fortunately getting it in before the storm,” McTammany said. “I’m glad we did, because we found a lot of things we need to work on. The other teams, those with Saturday meets, weren’t as lucky.”
Late Tuesday afternoon, however, Severna Park Athletic Director Greg LeGrand secured a local pool for the team to use for an impromptu practice.
“We were planning on some pretty challenging workouts between now and our next meet,” McTammany said. “We’ll try to make up for some of the lost time with whoever shows up.”
Tags: Maryland High School Swimming, Montgomery County High School Swimming
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