Gig Harbor High boys swim hopes for quick progress with rebuild

The Gig Harbor boys swim season is just getting underway and the team is looking to make this year a successful one, despite some significant losses from last year.

“It’s kind of a rebuilding year,” coach Mike Kelly said. “We lost some seniors last year as well as two athletes that were some of our better swimmers.”

Those two big losses were Andrew Sexton and Billy Oates.

Oates won the 50 free at state and took second in the 100 fly for the team last year. Kelly says he has since decided to swim club and not compete with the high school team.

Sexton, on the other hand, is no longer even in the country. Kelly said he is part of a Navy family and has since shipped out to Japan. He took third in the 200-yard freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle.

Also of note was the team’s performance in the relays.

The team of Oates, Sexton, Michael Derouin and Isaiah Tacker took fifth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1 minute, 28.26 seconds. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Tides’ team of Oates, Sexton, Derouin and Bryce Brabham took fourth, clocking in at 3 minutes, 15.76 seconds.

These departures leave Kelly with some big gaps to fill in his team but he is still hopeful the team can make the most of the season.

“Obviously with two of those types of athletes removed from the equation our relays won’t be quite as strong as in year’s past,” Kelly said. “But we’ve got a good group of young men that so far have been working really hard and understand the situation.”

One of the aspects he is looking to the most to keep the team competitive is the returning veterans he does have.

“We do have some good swimmers that returned from last year that have some state experience,” Kelly said. “They’re showing some leadership and helping the younger guys understand the benefits of hard work and trying their best.”

One of these swimmers is junior Michael Derouin who had been on that successful relay team last year.

Following the team’s first meet of the year against North Thurston last Thursday, he is optimistic for this year.

“Our first meet was actually really good,” Derouin said. “We performed very well together and we are excited for the upcoming season.”

Derouin also had some strong performances himself as he got two top spots with a 23.29 in the 50 free and a 58.27 in the 200 freestyle.

“It was a good start to the season,” Derouin said. “We did lose a couple good athletes but we have been training very hard as a team. A lot of people are stepping up to fill in those spots.”

Getting into the weeds, Derouin spoke about what training they’re doing to get the team up to speed.

“Right now, we’re doing a lot of distance, working five thousand plus yards each practice,” Derouin said. “While we’re doing that distance, our coaches will always make sure that we’re focusing on those little details and pushing us to do our best.”What are those little details?

“Turns, underwater, and just stroke technique,” Derouin said. “The focus of doing the most efficient techniques we can in the water.”

What goals does the junior have for his next two years as he looks to improve on those details? He has quite high aspirations for himself.

“Personally, I want to move on to state in both of my individual events. I swam at state both freshmen and sophomore year. I want to be able to do that all four years in high school because I feel like that would be a very good experience,” Derouin said.What will it take to get there?“To get to state, I’m going to have to push myself very hard,” Derouin said. “I’m going to have to basically take my coaches’ advice because they’ve always gotten me there before.”

Also a standout on the team is the only senior, Carson Eliasen. One of the team’s captains, he echoed the hopes that his teammate had and sees potential in his team.

“I feel like North Thurston is one of our biggest challengers and for us to pull out a win against them I think is really good,” Eliasen said. “I don’t think anybody did bad and everybody just had great races.”

Eliasen also had to think on his feet, swimming a first place time 1:00.84 in the 100 butterfly despite having never done it before. “Before the meet I found out I was swimming the hundred fly for the first time in high school so I was kind of nervous swimming that for the first time,” Eliasen said. “Looking back, it was really nice and I think I did well in that.”

The 100 breaststroke was his other event and one he has more experience with which he also took first in with a 1:05.28, eight seconds ahead of second place. “I wanted to be faster than what I was but I think the time that I put up was a good starting point for the season so I was happy with that,” Eliasen said. If the first meet was a starting point where does the team captain want to have be an ending point? He wants to set a school record in the hundred breastroke and be amongst the best in the state. “Time wise, my goal is to break the school record which is 59.97,” Eliasen said. “My goal for state is top eight which would be really nice.”

All of this is in line with what Kelly has in mind for the team. “We’d like to obviously finish the season accomplishing our best times,” Kelly said. “If that all goes right, hopefully having a shot at winning the South Sound Conference championship. Granted, it’s going to be much more difficult this year. ”

Kelly also intends to build off of what is an already well trained and in quality condition.

“This early part of the season we tend to do a lot of leg work and core work and just kind of build the body up,” Kelly said. “Fortunately, many of the kids we’re seeing are either coming out of the boy’s water polo season or were doing some form of swim training previous to the start of the season.

So even as the team is looking strong, there is a lot of work that the team has to put in to get where they want to be.

“It’s not like we’re starting from scratch but to get prepared for those bigger meets in the postseason, there is still a lot of work to be done,” Kelly said. “We’re doing our best to keep the guys focused and working hard.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 6:00 AM.