Locals shoot for top

Area swimmers will hope to make their biggest splash of the season this week.

When the state swim meet begins on Thursday at 1 p.m. with the diving competition at Marist, Dalton will enter four divers. On Friday at Westminster, the preliminary rounds of the remaining swim events will take place at noon, with Dalton bringing 15 representatives. Northwest Whitfield will enter its boys 200-meter freestyle relay team, the Bruins’ first state swim entrants in the program’s three-year history (Northwest entered two divers in 2008).

The championship round takes place Saturday at 6 p.m. at Westminster.

Dalton coach Charles Todd said the 19 total number of swimmers and divers he’ll take to the state meet is the most in the program’s history, which started in the mid-1970s.

“I’m excited for this team,” Todd said. “We should be looking pretty strong. The coaches and swimmers put in a lot of work and we trained every weekday this year from 5:30 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. and again in the afternoon from either 4-6 or 6-8. The kids have worked hard and put in their dues and it should pay off.”

Todd said he’s hoping for a top five-10 finish for the boys — the Catamounts finished 13th at state last year — and also at least a top 10 finish from the Lady Catamounts, who finished 22nd overall among the 100-school meet, which features classifications 1A-4A. Class 5A has it’s own meet.

Todd’s ambitions for his teams aren’t just lofty, they’re realistic. The Cats finished 10-1 in the regular season and the Lady Cats 9-2.

For Dalton and Northwest’s swim teams to do points damage in the standings, they’ll need to finish inside the top 16 during Friday’s preliminary rounds to qualify for Saturday’s championships.

Dalton’s boys 200 medley relay team of Omar Farag, Stephen Jones, Taylor Dale and Hunter Mulkey has the state’s sixth best time heading into the meet. Todd expects big swims from Joana Rosales (100 freestyle, 100 backstroke) and Rebecca Davis (100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle and 200 medley), who were the Lady Cats’ leading scorers during the regular season.

Northwest coach Marta Hannah admits her relay team — which includes Ryan Ford, Cody Plott, K.J. Norbury and Ben Pipkin — qualifying for the championship round is a stiff challenge, considering the swim program is so new and has no pool of its own.

“They’ve trained really hard against the odds to make it here,” said Hannah of the Bruins, which have used Dalton State’s pool for practices.

“We have very good kids and they’re talented, but it’s going to be very hard. It’s going to be harder for us than anybody because we don’t have our own pool.”

To prepare for the meet, Todd said Dalton’s swim teams will shave and taper to ensure they’re well-rested and able to swim their fastest times. Those basic techniques could prove to be more important than ever this year, because the field of competition will be leveled. For the first time in six years, the full-bodied polyurethane-based swimsuits have been banned.

“The reason for that is only wealthy teams could afford them,” Todd said. “They cost $500 apiece. ... It’s going to be harder to break state records now because the ones that were set (with the polyurethane suits) still count.”

Regardless of the swim wear, local athletes are expecting to compete with the state’s best.

“We have a really fast team this year,” said Cats junior captain Harris News, who will compete in the 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

“I believe we can win a couple of events. We’ve had great preparation.”

Harris’ older brother George News is Dalton’s diving coach. He’ll take divers Chase Hair, Kathryn Lutrick, Erin Hullender and Susan Meider to Marist.

Of Dalton’s combined 19 wins over the regular season between the Cats and Lady Cats, the dive team was a consistent contributor, finishing in at least the top five of all meets.

“The divers have put in a lot of work to get to where they are,” George said. “Hopefully, all the work will translate to a really good state meet. They have the opportunity to do well, and now it’s up to them to take it to the next level.”

Senior diver Kathryn Lutrick hope Dalton will make the most of what she views to be an advantage for the program.

“We’re bringing four divers, which is more than a lot of schools will have,” she said. “We just have to stay focused and I think we’ll do OK.”

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