The Orono boys swim and dive team clinched their third consecutive Wright County Conference championship on
Feb. 9.

“There have been ample injuries and sicknesses this season,” said coach Peter Buecher. “To win the Wright County Conference for a third time [with a final point total of 396] is a huge accomplishment.”

The injuries and sicknesses have made it difficult to get back on track with training and winning meets. “The hardest obstacle was swimming at conference without Ryan Strother,” said senior captain Spencer Cumming. “Strother has always been a major point scorer for us and when he couldn’t swim because of an eye injury, the whole team was shocked, but, we pulled it together and won anyway, which shows how much talent there is on the team, even when we are missing guys.”

The team is made up of two schools, Orono and Mound Westonka. “The guys on the team have proven to me that the majority of the stereotypes people have about the school [Mound Westonka] are not true,” said senior swimmer Daniel Thomson. “If both of the schools were not on the same team, the season would not be as memorable.”

One of the ways that the team has maintained traditions is by having continued the ‘Captain Orono Dive’ on senior night. “At the beginning of the last home game every year, the team forms a tunnel outside the locker-room door, which one guy will run out of, wearing a cape that says Orono, and do a belly-flop off of the diving board,” said Thomson.

In order to prepare for state, the boys are now in the taper phase of the training. “These are more relaxed practices so that we have more energy for competition, sections and state,” said Cumming. “Swimming works every part of your body, physically and mentally.”

Mental exercise increases the threshold of stress and fatigue to prepare participants for state throughout the season. Tapers along with specys, where each participant does 20 or so 50 yard sprints of the strokes they will be swimming at sections, have formed the way practices are handled.

Eating healthy foods, not drinking carbonated soda and taking a multivitamin everyday help to prepare the participants for the state and maintain strong physical and mental health and physicality. “I try not to eat too much junk food, but I make sure to eat plenty [of food] to make up for all of the calories burnt off in practice,” said senior captain Mitch Miller. “I pretty much just eat all of the time.”

Winning conference for the third time in a row has been a major accomplishment for the boys swim and dive team. It is a result of all of the successful mental and physical training. “We all work hard at practice and push ourselves to what our max is,” said freshman swimmer Chase Olsen. “I was able to place first at conference with the 500 free.”

“The young swimmers with their talent and dedication have influenced me the most,” said Cumming. “They have been able to contribute to the wins and successes as a team.”
Captains Spencer Cumming and Mitch Miller made it to state and will be swimming on Feb. 28 – March 2.

“They [Mitch Miller and Spencer Cumming] just show up and work really hard, while cracking a few jokes here and there, but they are truly really great captains,” said Thomson.

Taylor Peterson is the Editor in Chief – Print for The Spartan Speaks.