Wave Ryders pull in 17 golds at state meet

The Wave Ryder Swim Club finished their long course season last month by earning 46 medals at the state meet in Bozeman, 17 of which were gold.

Nine swimmers from the Wave team competed in the meet, though several others qualified but were unable to participate for various reasons. This made the Wave team the 10th smallest of the 12 teams that participated in the meet, which attracted a total of 260 swimmers. However, the team still managed to place seventh at the meet and take home the fifth most medals. In fact, all nine of the Wave swimmers earned at least one medal at the meet.

"I'm super excited about how our team did overall," said Wave Ryder Swim Club Coach Diedre Loyda. "This was an absolutely amazing finish for the season and the kids worked really hard for it. This was no gimmie."

Most of the kids put in 10 to 16 hours of practice per week and often practiced twice a day. The time paid off though with most of the kids earning a personal best in nearly all of their events at the state meet.

"We set ourselves up for it at the beginning of the season," Loyda said. "We planned for it. You just don't always know if it's going to happen. The kids all stuck with it though and kept working hard."

Even though she was proud of her team, the success meant that Loyda had to pay up on a bet she made with her son Jordan. She told him that if he took first in all seven of his events that she would let him shave her head — and unluckily for her — he did.

"I really didn't think he'd be able to do it, especially because he was swimming the mile, which he usually doesn't do," Loyda said.

But Jordan managed to pull it off with the added motivation from his mom, and cheers from his teammates as well as swimmers from the KATS, Kalispell's team who had heard about the bet and were hoping coach Loyda would have to pay up.

"It was fun and it was definitely a bet that I was going to pay up on because he's 14 and if you don't keep your word you're setting a bad example," Loyda said.

Jordan and his brother Bubba did the initial cutting of their mom's hair Wednesday evening at The Wave in Whitefish, but their dad Pete did the actual buzzing of Deidre's head to ensure that there were no injuries.

"It's extremely liberating," Loyda said of her new hair cut. "I can get ready so quickly now in the morning. And it's just hair. It will grow back."

Jordan wasn't the only Wave swimmer to sweep his races, Bigfork's Joseph Potkonjak also won all seven of his. They were two of just six kids that swept their events at the meet, all of whom did so for the first time. Both Jordan and Joseph also posted times this season that were good enough to qualify them to participate in zones, which is held this week in Hawaii. However, Jordan was unable to make the trip.

As the team becomes more successful, an increase of dedication and support is required from the parents of the swimmers, and Loyda said that through all the added running around for practices and events the parents have been consistently helpful.

"We have the most amazing parent group," Loyda said. "The kids' schedules are crazy and the parents are so good about getting them where they need to go and helping the coaches however they can. They really do a lot to support the kids and the coaches."

There are a total of 60 kids in the Wave Ryder Swim Club, though not all of them swim in competitions. That number has grown substantially since the team's inception four years ago, and Loyda hopes that trend continues when the short course season starts next month.

"My goal for next year is to start adding some depth to the team so we can score more team points," Loyda said.