Homewood-Flossmoor Swim Club is continuing to grow and beginning to experience levels of success the youth team has not seen since before the pandemic.
The winter was a successful one, coach Chris Baker said. The club had double digit swimmers advance to the regional level and three make the state competition, led by a prolific 10u 200-yard relay team.
“I’m happy,” Baker said. “The group that I have is very solid right now, and I am optimistic about the future, very optimistic.”
At the regional at Lincoln-Way Central High School, Jax Love was the champion in the boys 10u 50-yard butterfly, 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard freestyle and both 100- and 200-yard individual medley. Josiah Dyson won the boys 10u 50-yard freestyle and the 50-yard breaststroke.
The 10u 200 relay team of Love, Dyson, Ron Krapf and William Morgan took first, as well. Dyson replaced Brandon Ojode on the team this winter after Ojode aged out. The group dropped three seconds from its previous best.
Morgan was dealing with an injury, as well. He had a swollen nose from an injury suffered playing jump football, Baker said.
“I didn’t expect to win it, but I had a feeling we were top three,” Baker said. “They had the will and sheer determination and they were swimming for one another. That allowed them to win.”
Krapf didn’t do particularly well at the regional. He was preparing for another meet and wasn’t set up to go all out, Baker said.
At state, though, Krapf shined. He placed in four events, finishing seventh in the 500 freestyle and eighth in the 200 freestyle.
“At state, I was hoping (he would do well), and he performed above expectations,” Baker said.
None of those four will age up before the summer season, so they’ll try to run it again in a few months. Baker thinks they have a chance to be top three in the state.
The foursome was about 8.5 seconds off the Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club’s championship time but only about 4.5 from the top three.
“Last season, that was their first time at regionals. They got to experience it, so this fall they knew what it was,” Baker said. “Now that they’ve experienced state, we’ll see what happens. Now they know what to expect. They know that it’s a different level of swimming and they’re not as intimidated.”
H-F Swim Club is still open to taking on new swimmers. The numbers are at about 75% what they were before the pandemic, Baker said. The team is hoping to continue to grow.
Interested parents can visit www.gomotionapp.com/team/ilhfsc/page/home and schedule an evaluation. The club accepts all levels of swimmers.