The Miners swim teams have picked up right where they left off last winter, when they were both crowned state champions.
The girls team has swept all four of their competitions thus far, and the boys team, three of four. The boys fell in their season-opening meet to Murray, whom they edged out by just six points for their state title in February.
Both Park City teams are chasing repeat titles. The program is one of the most successful in the school’s history, with the girls having won 11 state titles and the boys, eight. They have swimmers on both teams who know what it takes to retain the girls’ positioning atop the state and for the boys to climb past Murray once more.
The Miners teams are off enjoying a Thanksgiving-time break. The teams’ next meet will come Dec. 16, when they host Juan Diego at the Park City Aquatic Center in Summit Park. Many of the Park City swimmers are off swimming with their club teams during the break, and those who aren’t are hard at work with coaches Gadi Shamah and Heather Flynn practicing technical improvements.
“The athletes are really dedicated and putting in the hard work,” head coach Shamah said. “They have great attitudes, get along well and push one another to be better, which contributes to our team culture.”
Shamah and Flynn know it’s not about how you swim in November or December but about how the team comes together by late January and February. Flynn noted how the boys title came down to the very last few races at the championship meet last season. She said the coaching staff is hyper-focused on bringing along the middle pack of boys swimmers, whom they hope will contribute key points at the regional and state championship meets.
“It’s going to be a matter of how the rest of the season goes,” assistant coach Flynn said about the boy’s chances for a repeat title. “It’s going to come down to that middle group of swimmers, and those boys are going to need to step up.”
Senior Anna Klug, who is ranked fourth in the state in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, added, “We have had a fantastic start to the season with us girls being undefeated. We are excited to bring that same energy to the end of the season to go for our second title in a row.”
Klug said the upperclassmen leaders and strong newcomers have been integral to the Miners success thus far. She noted the team’s strong individual and team performances. Park City has 17 girls and six boys ranked top 40 in the individual state rankings, and all three of the girls relay teams are ranked atop the state.
“I feel like our season has started off strong,” said boys swimmer Harrison Bae, ranked atop the state in the 500 freestyle. “While we lost a few key seniors; we have lots of new swimmers stepping up and filling in. I can already see improvements in both technique and teamwork since our meet against Murray.”
Bae said closing the gap to Murray by season’s end will require hard work and consistency. He is confident, however, that the Miners can put in what’s required to make that second-straight title happen.
Flynn believes these teams are part of a burgeoning aquatics community in the ski town of Park City. She led the boys preps water polo team to a state title game appearance in October, where they fell to Kearns. Many of those same boys water polo players are now on the boys swim team and will likely continue to round into form and contribute majorly.
“The momentum has been built,” Flynn said. “Next year we will be even stronger than we are this year.”