Notebook: Swimmers, divers can't afford to lose focus during holidays

Although district meets are still about two months away, this is a crucial time of year for the Rio Grande Val-ley’s high school swimmers and divers.

The holiday season creates its own set of challenges for athletes in such a demanding sport where being well-conditioned and mentally focused becomes increasingly more important as district meets in late January and early February draw closer.

The ones who maintain their conditioning through the holidays are typically the ones better prepared to do their best in district and regional meets with the intent of qualifying for the UIL state meet Feb. 24 and 25 in Austin.

“It’s complicated,” said Harlingen High swimming coach Dan Brandon, referring to the challenge of arranging practice schedules around the holidays when athletes sometimes travel out of town with their families, or events and activities pop up that compete for an athlete’s workout time.

“This is the midpoint of our season,” Brandon added. “The holidays can be difficult. This is when we’re trying to get a good idea of where we’re at and what we need to do to hone things down.”

Those athletes who have been to state know what it takes to return to Austin, and that generally means they can enjoy the holidays but not forget about maintaining their training. It should also be noted that in order to do well in swimming and diving, it takes a lot of self-motivation.

Kelley Jimenez, a junior diver at Hanna, is a perfect example. She’s been to the state meet twice already, and certainly expects to go back to Austin this season, too.

“I try to maintain a positive attitude and keep pushing through and pushing through to hopefully get to No. 1 (as a diver),” she said. “My main goal is to break the Brownsville record. I came within about 10 points last year, and that’s not even (the points you get for just) one dive. The record hasn’t been broken since 1988.

“We have a group (of girls) at Hanna that went to state last year, so we’re working as a team and helping each other to get good as a team and to keep getting personal bests,” she added. “This year we have to work a bit harder because the competition is better.”

HANNA’S NEW COACH

Sam Perez is Hanna’s new head coach. He replaces Caroline Rush Myers, who is now the team’s assistant coach. Perez served as a Hanna assistant coach for five years prior to this season.

“There are big shoes to fill in this position,” said Perez, a 1998 Hanna graduate. “I’m very excited to be given this opportunity.”

He said Hanna’s swimmers and divers are currently involved in workouts that take place about 80 percent of the time in the water and 20 percent outside the pool, involving such things as light weightlifting and other strength-building exercises beyond just swimming their events.

“The expectations are high again this season,” Perez said. “We recently took five girls and five boys to the TI-SCA meet in Corpus Christi. We want them to compete at meets besides our local meets so they can see what the competition is like out there. Sometimes, it’s a rude awakening, but it’s always good to see just what the competi-tion is like.”

CHRISTMAS CLASSIC

The next meet on tap for Valley swimmers and divers is the Christmas Classic hosted by Harlingen High at the Pendleton Park Pool. Diving competition begins at noon Friday with the swimming events to start at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

Brandon said he expects around 20 teams to participate. He said McAllen Memorial’s boys and Hanna’s girls are defending team champions.

The next big meet on tap after this weekend is the Pre-Regional Showcase Dec. 9 and 10 in Brownsville.

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.