Central's pool problems stunted competitors' training

~ Zany schedules caused problems in preparation for state.

Central captain Peyton Waggener has witnessed first hand how pump failures at the Central Municipal Pool adversely affected the Tigers and other local swimming programs.

The pool problems caused the teams to schedule practice sessions at other facilites where they have not been able to put in as many hours as usual.

"I know myself and some other guys are not in our best condition, and I think I was even faster last year than I am this year," Waggener said. "That's kind of disappointing. I know it's nobody's fault, but I would have liked to have had our pool back so we could've had a regular schedule and normal practice times."

Still, Waggener and others have stuck with their sport and done their best to deal with the situation.

Central senior swimmer Peyton Waggener donned his tiger-striped cap during practice Tuesday. (KIT DOYLE~ kdoyle@semissourian.com)

"These guys haven't given up, they haven't given in, they haven't quit and they just keep giving us all they've got," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "Seeing the improvement that these guys make and the ones that really make a commitment to the program, it's great to see them succeed."

Waggener is one of three Central swimmers who will compete in an individual race at the state tournament, which will take place at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Mo., on Friday and Saturday. Waggener had a 15th-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke last fall with a time of 1 minute, 2.96 seconds.

"When we get to the state level, those guys have been training year round and they're going to be ready to swim fast," Powell said. "I have not been able to train Peyton like I would have liked to his senior year. But with that being said, he's a tremendous competitor, it's his senior year and he won't be bad."

Powell added that it is difficult to tell how any of her swimmers will perform.

"If we ever needed an excuse, we definitely got it this year, but I don't want us to do that," Powell said. "I don't want to say 'What if.' When we finish on Friday, I want them to know that's all we could have done Friday with the circumstances we were given.

"We're just going to go into Friday's meet like it is our last one of the year, and hopefully do something to swim one more time" Saturday in the finals.

Another Central swimmer who will compete is Sam Gramling, who will swim in the 200 and 500 freestyle. Gramling said his goal is to be faster than his times from last year, when he finished 11th in the 500 (4:51.39) and 15th in the 200 (1:50.33).

The other Central individual is freshman Caleb Coots, who will compete in the 100 butterfly (56.84 qualifying time) and the 500 freestyle (5:04.75).

Coots has been swimming since he was 8 years old and is a member of the Gators club team when he is not swimming with Central.

"I swim year round, so this is nothing really new to me," Coots said of the state meet. "I think I'll definitely be able to get top 16 in both, but I'm aiming for the top eight in my fly just because I'm more geared toward distances than I am sprinting."

Central also qualified in two relays -- the 200 medley (1:48.98) and the 400 freestyle (3:33.51). Austin Mehner and Matt Holmes will complete the relay teams.

Notre Dame

The Bulldogs have one individual qualifier, junior Logan Bollinger, who will be swimming the 100 butterfly (57:37).

"I'm hoping for my best time of a 56 or a 57, but my main goal is to beat Caleb Coots," he said. "I swim on the SEALs and he swims on the Gators. So we see each other whenever we're at different practices and we talk a lot. At meets we'll just kind of mess around and see if we can beat each other.

"We're friends and there is a rivalry there."

Notre Dame coach Lenny Kuper added: "He's been working hard at the 100 fly for a few years now and this is his first time for making states. He's steadily improving. I think the expectation would be in the 56 [seconds] range."

The Bulldogs also qualified in the 400 freestyle relay, which includes Bollinger, Sean Doyle, Jacob Buckenmyer and Ben Rockett (3:33.99).

"They just made the state cut at our last meet," Kuper said of his team's lone relay. "So they just barely made it, but they were all at their best. All four of them. You've got to have all four of them on to have a decent time."

Jackson

The Jackson program, which is in its first year, has two swimmers who qualified for the state tournament -- senior Nick Welker and freshman Ryan Gibson.

Gibson will be swimming the 100 butterfly (56.74) and the 100 backstroke (59.21).

Jackson coach Shana Kight said that Gibson wants to finish in the top 10.

"That's a very realistic goal for him and he can achieve that, so I think it's going to be all about how he's feeling that day and how the pool feels that day," she said.

Welker, who ran cross country this fall in addition to swimming, will compete in the 500 freestyle (5:07.87).

"He's a senior and I would be elated for him to qualify in the state finals," Kight said. "He is almost 5 seconds under qualifying time. He's a very good distance swimmer and it had shown this season."