Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting in the pool. Each year Jefferson Swim League coaches find out that some of their best swimmers are first timers. Cason Spencer is 14 years old. He’s a self-taught swimmer, but after his family joined the Elks Club, he figured he might as well try and swim for the Elks JSL squad. Turns out, he knows his way around the pool.
“He just has such a great attitude about swimming,” said Elks coach Kirsten Drucker. “At his age it’s hard to just pick this up. He’s in the more competitive age group. It’s one of those things during practice where we tell the kids what to do and they know how to do it already. At the beginning of the year he was in a situation where he didn’t know a lot of the stuff we were talking about. So we’d jump in and show him and he’s grasps it really quick.”
Spencer has been an immediate success for Drucker and her team. The soon to be Monticello freshman has done well enough in relays that he’s swimming up an age group, making the jump to 15-18 races.
“Sometimes it can be difficult,” Spencer said. “There are times when I’m swimming against kids closer to my age, but then there are also times when I’m swimming against the oldest kids in the league.”
Of course, that has its perks too. In many ways Spencer is the team’s group project and the senior swimmers on the Elks team have helped Drucker show the first timer all they can outside of the practices and meets.
At Spencer’s age, getting the pool and swimming for a team isn’t all that stressful of a decision. However, for younger swimmers, especially those learning how to stay afloat, joining the JSL can be stressful. But for coaches, getting the younger swimmers into the pool and watching them excel is one of the biggest perks of the job.
“As a coach the most rewarding thing is getting to coach someone who doesn’t take to the water, someone who’s scared of it and then just absolutely loves it,” said Key West coach Ammie Uttecht. “I was a swimmer myself and that’s what you want to pass on to these kids, love of the pool. Dropping time is great, fast swimmers are great, but the real reward is the kids that take away the love of this sport and come back every summer.”
When Angel Pilkey joined Key West last year, he was afraid to put his head in the water, and swimming a 25-meter race was a struggle. Now the 10-year old is one of Uttecht’s most eager swimmers.
“At the beginning of the year he was struggling to get arcoss the lane,” Uttecht said. “He would stop and grab the rope and take in a lot of air. Now he goes the whole way and drops time every week. He loves it. He comes to every practice, twice a day. He’s really taking it all in.”
It’s all part of a plan that’s worked out quite well. Pilkey’s parents thought joining the JSL team would help the young swimmer conquer his apprehensions in the water, something he’s grateful for.
“It’s been great,” Pilkey said. “Last year I wasn’t able to make it across the pool and now I know how to swim and I get to have a lot of fun and meet new kids.”
