Eagles swim program looks to boost numbers by offering summer workouts to middle school students

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
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Grain Valley boys and girls swim coach Julie Reilly is trying to find ways to get more students to participate in swimming.
 
That’s why she offered summer workout opportunities to middle school students in 2024 to try and help younger students get more interested in swimming when they reach the high school level.
 
For the first time this coming school year, there will be a middle school swim team and its season will start in the spring in 2026.
 
This summer, there has been a slight uptick in participants in summer workouts for swimming as 12 middle schoolers and 14 high school students have been in the pool at Blue Springs South High School.
 
“It’s a hard sport to recruit for but it’s one that could save your life someday,” Reilly said. “I want kids to swim even if it doesn’t look pretty.
 
“I put the information for the summer workouts online and I had a parent post it on a Grain Valley page on Facebook.”
 
During the workouts, Reilly said the middle school students have worked on the basics of swimming, while the high school athletes work on more advanced techniques and work on getting into shape for the upcoming fall and winter seasons.
 
High school swimmers, like senior Ellie Martin, help mentor the middle school swimmers.
 
“We’re seeing a lot of groups especially at the middle school level,” Martin said. “I get to work with them and teach them some techniques. We don’t just work on our own skills.”
 
Before the swimmers get in the pool, they do workouts in the weight lifting area like running, stretches, and so on.
 
“We try to do some dry land work and make it a little fun,” Reilly said. “We play some dry land games. We have worked on freestyle swimming and we worked on the backstroke for a couple of days. And we will do butterfly and backstroke later in the month.
 
“We also did some relays so the middle schoolers could see what that looks like.”
 
For the high school swimmers, the summer workouts are all about preparing for the high school season.
 
“We try to improve our technique during the offseason,” said Martin, who also competes for the Kansas City Swim Academy in the summer. “Once the season comes closer we work on building up our endurance before we compete.”
 
Junior Gage Wright, the defending Class 1 state champion in the 1-meter diving event, uses the workouts to try out new dives and sharpen his basic techniques.
 
“When we are working this early in the season, we are really just working on those foundational skills,” said Wright, who is also diving for the Kansas Dive Club in Lawrence. “We have to build a good framework, so when it’s go time during the season, we can execute well during the season.”
 
The workouts also serve as an opportunity for the swimmers to build chemistry.
 
“I get to work on teamwork with other swimmers and get to know them more,” Martin said. “It makes it more fun and keeps you excited for the season.”

Photo credit: Michael Smith, Grain Valley News