Emporia High boys swimming and diving coach Bob Yevak knows Thursday’s season-opening Emporia Invitational meet, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t mean too much.
Especially considering his troops are probably going to be more than a little worn out from a week of high-intensity training.
“With boys, they break down physically so bad in swimming that they’re really not 100 percent until the last few weeks of the season when you rest them and taper them and get them ready for the league meet,” Yevak said. “They will have all the endurance they need, they just don’t have any speed right now because they’re just so physically exhausted. But you can’t be rested for these meets because these meets really don’t mean much.”
As such, however the Spartans fare in Thursday’s meet will neither add to or detract from Yevak’s hope that this year’s squad — which returns every athlete except for two divers from a year ago — can compete for the Centennial League title this year. The Spartans finished third last year, while Washburn Rural took home the title.
“Our ultimate goal for the season is to be able to compete for that championship, and I think we can this year,” he said. “We’re a lot bigger and stronger than we were last year, which is normal for boys. They get bigger and stronger, and they’re all in the weight program, so they have a lot more speed and power.”
Two swimmers that have stood out in the preseason, Yevak said, are junior Aaron Clark in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle and junior Adam Coburn in the 200- and 500-meter freestyle.
But perhaps more attention will be paid to the divers this year after the graduation of Brady Wilson and Matt Paul, two of the best divers in school history who each qualified for State all four years of high school.
Stepping in to fill their spots are freshmen Derek Krause and Mason Mounkes, who join sophomores Brian Tabares and Sam Nolan on the dive squad.
Dive coach Barbara Clark said Krause and Mounkes had been impressive in the earlygoing with the way they had been able to control their bodies.
“They have some background in the trampolining with their twists,” Clark said. “Both of them have good body awareness — all of them do — but with (Krause and Mounkes) just coming in, it helps knowing where their body is at.”
With last week’s meet at Salina South nixed because of the weather, the start of Emporia High’s season will find the Spartans’ welcoming Olathe East, Washburn Rural, Derby, Hayden and Coffeyville into their home pool.
Yevak said with such talented teams as the opposition, he saw Thursday’s meet as one that could open some eyes.
“It will be fast,” Yevak said. “For this early in the season, it will be a fast meet.”