New Whitefish swim team hits the pool

After three long years of starts and stops, the Columbia Falls and Whitefish swim teams hit the water last week. The two teams are jointly coached by Mike Nelson, but will compete separately.

“It was kind of an emotional night,” Nelson said when the team finally hit the pool last week. “One of the swimmers said, ‘Hey coach, zero days,’”

The “zero days” was in reference to the teams counting down the days they had until they started the season.

The teams collectively had to raise more than $20,000 to get the program off the ground — neither school was willing to foot the bill for another sports program. Along the way they had problems with fundraising, the Montana High School Association and finding a time and place to practice. But this year the squad got the kinks worked out and raised enough money to get the fledgling program off the ground.

The Whitefish squad has 16 swimmers.

The top swimmer is likely Matthew Perez, a freshman, Nelson noted.

“It’s a young team, but we have a lot of talent to build on,” Nelson said.  “Some swimmers have no competitive swimming experience, others have up to eight years.”

Nelson said he was pleasantly surprised by the Whitefish turnout.

“The interest from Whitefish surprised me,” he said “We originally thought there were three boys and six girls, and currently we have six boys and 10 girls.”

The teams practice at The Wave in Whitefish, but won’t have a home swim meet this season. They have two meets in Kalispell, however. They open the season with the Kalispell Invitational on Dec. 6 and are back in Kalispell again on Jan. 10.

Swimming could prove an attractive winter sport for athletes looking to stay in shape or get in better shape. A Columbia Falls football player — Connor Bowman — is also swimming this year.

The Whitefish roster includes, Perez, Casey Botner, Jacob Anderson, Sage Cornelius, Zachary Meadows, Alice Wilde, Ana Wood, Cody Reel Draband, Kaylee Hickman, Madison Davis, Rhiley Livingston, Sarah Perez, Sonja Ring, Brook Fretz and Michaela McDowell.