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Hancock High School Athletics

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SWIMMERS GET SURPRISE WITH NEW EVENTS

While hosting a meet at the Hutchinson YMCA pool on Tuesday afternoon, Hutchinson High boys swim coach Rene’ Sullivan gave it a Christmas theme. Sullivan had a “Peanuts” Christmas shirt on. Many other timers, scorers and helpers donned some seasonal garb as well. To even further her meet’s theme, Sullivan gave some of her swimmers special, surprise Christmas gifts. However, when they found out what the gift was, the swimmers felt like they’d just received a lump of coal from their coach. Sullivan’s gift? Well, many of her swimmers got to compete in races they had never, ever swam before on the high school level. As expected, the Salthawks didn’t fire on all cylinders as they adjusted to the different races. Hutchinson’s team of 15 swimmers finished third during the three-team meet behind Rose Hill and Great Bend. Last week, Hutchinson was in a meet that featured 77 swimmers. Tuesday’s was much smaller. This, coupled with the fact swimmers were forced out of their comfort zones, made Sullivan believe her team wasn’t as intense as usual. Still, she liked what she saw. “It was a little bit more laid back, and I think some of the times showed that because there wasn’t that intense excitement going on,” Sullivan said. “But they still did a great job. Everybody’s time stayed about the same.” Many swimmers swam into uncharted waters on Tuesday. For example, junior Trevor Cox was informed he was making his debut in the 200-freestyle as he showed up for the meet. “I got up there, looked at the heat sheet, and was like, 'um, what?'” Cox said. “So I just got up, was nervous, did it. But when I started swimming it, I figured out it wasn’t that bad.” Cox said he usually swims the 50 and 100 freestyles. He admitted it was a tad awkward for a couple seconds during the 200 freestyle when he mentally thought he was done halfway through. “It felt pretty different,” Cox said. “I was like, '100 done, think I’m going to stop. But then oh wait, never mind, I have to keep going, push through it and finish strong.'” Cox ended up finishing fifth in the event. Another Salthawk junior, Jack Fee, swam the 100 breaststroke for the first time. As expected, he was a little shell-shocked. Fee said Sullivan hinted that he might swim it during some future meet a couple days ago in practice. Still, it was sudden news to him, but he managed. “I usually try not to let the nerves get to me,” Fee said. “Once I got going, I wasn’t worried. It was different, but I liked it.” Fee touched the wall fifth in the race Tuesday. Although his bread and butter race is the backstroke, Fee wouldn’t mind seeing his name on the heat sheet for the 100-breaststroke again. “Yeah, I do want to try it some more and improve my time, work on my stroke,” Fee said. As many swimmers swam new events on Tuesday, Sullivan said she constantly heard the same thing afterward – when they got to the end, they all wanted to dive in and do it again. “They of course were complaining about it,” Sullivan said. “But then they come up after the race and are like ‘Hey coach, can I do that again?’ I’m like sure, of course you can swim that.”

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