Dual rule is popular at the pool

Erika Mortenson

By Joe Harris

SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH

02/12/2008

When she entered Visitation as a freshman, Erika Mortenson had no intention of competing for its swimming team.

Mortenson specializes in distance events, such as the mile freestyle. High school swimming focuses on shorter distances, and she figured there was no sense competing if she couldn’t swim her signature events.

This season, however, Mortenson has been swimming for both her club team and her high school team. She is ninth in the area honor roll in the 200 freestyle.

"My sophomore year, I kind of had a breakthrough and I wanted to try something new," she said.

Four years ago, she would not have had that chance; swimmers had to choose. But they now have the option to do both because the Missouri State High School Activities Association passed a dual participation rule that went into effect for the 2005-06 season.

"In high school, you are swimming for your school and swimming for your team because you are going after points in meets," said Todd Gabel, Lafayette and Rockwood Swim Club coach. "In club you are also trying to get points for your team, but you are also trying to accomplish individual goals."

The club season lasts all year. Clubs can attract swimmers from all over their region, and swimmers are divided into age groups. Meets are spaced throughout the year, and top performances in regional and national meets can earn a swimmer a scholarship to a national power or even a shot at the Olympic team.

High school swimming packs as many meets into its three-month season as club does all year. And it focuses more on team success.

"By swimming on their high school team, kids are swimming with their peers and having their accolades trumpeted by their school," Parkway Central coach Kevin Mabie said. "Every kid is trying to find their niche, and if they are a talented swimmer, they should be known for it."

CROWDED WATERS

No sport has a bigger disparity in facilities than swimming. Schools such as Lafayette and Marquette have eight-lane Olympic-sized pools with unlimited practice time, while other schools such as Timberland and Fort Zumwalt West have to share public pools with other schools on a limited schedule.

Dual participation helps schools with limited facilities. Few club swimmers would leave for three months to swim in high school because of the lack of facilities, but doing both lets club swimmers still get the workouts they are accustomed to.

Timberland and Holt, for example, share the O’Fallon YMCA for an hour, four times a week. "I don’t even have starting blocks at the YMCA," Timberland coach Brooke Brockman said. "We can’t practice our starts and stops."

Timberland’s Taylor Wohrley and Amanda Masters, who balance club and high school, said if forced to choose that they would swim only club, mainly because of Timberland’s facility limitations.

"It’s tough because the temperature of the pool is different and the YMCA pool is smaller — you have a maximum of four lanes," Wohrley said. "In club swimming, you have eight lanes and the temperature is a lot cooler. When the water temperature is higher than your body temperature, you can get overheated in your workout."

Masters uses the first part of her high school practice for dry training. She runs two or three miles before practice and works out in the YMCA weight room.

"Swimming high school is completely different because it gets you into the school spirit more," Masters said.

GOING FOR THE GOLD

After winning the state title in the 100 breaststroke as a freshman and finishing second last year, Zumwalt West junior Haley Spencer has opted to swim only club this season.

Spencer qualified for the Olympic team trials in Omaha , Neb. , in June. Spencer decided to take the high school season off to give the trials and her academics her full attention.

She misses the high school experience and plans to return to Zumwalt West for her senior year, after the trials. She also has some added incentive for next season as her younger sister, Evyn, will be a freshman.

Clynes said Spencer and the other area swimmers show extraordinary dedication to be at their best. Many swimmers who do both have a two-and-a-half hour club practice after a two-hour high school practice every day, in addition to the dry training such as running and weightlifting.

"You don’t see football players play extra games on the weekends to get better," Clynes said. "They are too afraid they will be injured. It’s amazing to see these girls put in the amount of work they do."

Since dual participation, relationships between club and high school coaches have improved. Instead of being competitive, the coaches are more cooperative.

Visitation coach Sean Dooley said some club coaches used to tell swimmers that they wouldn’t get the same quality of workout if they swam in high school. He said he constantly talks with swimmers such as Mortenson to make sure she is not duplicating her club workout at Visitation.

Gabel said, "I think it benefits kids to do both. They can represent their club at big meets and represent their high school and get recognition at their high school for it because that’s their identity."

prepsports@post-dispatch.com