With the boys’ swim season coming to a close, many swimmers would be taking a pause, but two swimmers continue to work tirelessly through postseason, even after they were rewarded as state champions at their state club competition.
Freshmen Parker Paulson and Jack Williams participated in their club state swimming meet from Feb. 15 to Feb. 18 in Des Moines. Over the long weekend, both Paulson and Williams took home the gold in separate events. The two participated in several individual events and also swam in relays together. In total, the swimmers took home four first place wins.
As a freshman swimmer on the varsity team, Paulson faced a quick transition between club and school swimming. “I didn’t get much preparation for this meet because of the quick turnaround between high school state and club state. I mostly just tried to stay healthy and worked hard in practice to stay in shape for my next championship meet,” Paulson said.
Though a strong swimmer for PV, Williams chose to leave the high school swim team mid season. Williams said there were many things that played into his decision, but that one seemed to weigh heavier than the rest. “The biggest reason was the lack of support from the coaching staff. They clearly had their favorites and I was not one,” he said.
Williams stated that his decision also had much to do with how the school’s coaches were training their swimmers. “The practices were not challenging and did not push me enough as a distance swimmer. When I swam the 500 (freestyle), I did not swim my normal speed, and it confirmed that the current training was inadequate for me,” said Williams.
Ultimately, he made his final decision when the coaches refused to allow him to increase his yardage at practice, a step necessary to prepare him for the longer races his state club competition would require.
Williams said he wanted to finish his high school season, but needed to be ready for the age group competition at state. This was the last year the two were able to participate in this age category. Although both showed great skill, the two are not simply settling for their awards this season. Both Williams and Paulson expressed their goals for the next club season. “Just to drop time. Because I’m in a new age group, I don’t really expect to place or anything. I already have all my qualifying times, so I don’t really need to focus on that,” Williams stated.
The boys were happy to bring home their hardware from the state meet and glad to have shared the experience with each other. Williams stated, “The age group state meet was a blast. I did way better than I expected and I loved being with all my teammates, especially Parker. We were swimming against tough competition across the state, and it was fun to get to know new people and hang out with old friends.”
