Kiwanis Swim: Back And Better Than Ever

They are contenders this year.

Returning for their second year as coaches, Matt Dangleis and Alex Leuchars were impressed to see the improvements made during last season carried over to the beginning of this year for the Glasgow Kiwanis Swim Team.

Glasgow traveled to Harlem for their first meet of the year on Saturday and Leuchars and Dangleis came away excited for the upcoming season.

“We were shocked about how much better they were this season than they were at the beginning of last season. We were shocked, blown away,” said Leuchars. “That alone was worth coming back, just to see that.”

The results for the Harlem meet were not immediately available due to complications during the event.

Despite the lack of results on paper, the coaches and swimmers were confident with how they swam and ready for the rest of the season.

“They swam phenomenally,” said Leuchars. “We’re contenders this year.”

Last season, the team took fifth place at state, competing in the AA division, the best the state has to offer. They swam so well at the divisional meet the week before, Glasgow was moved up to the AA division.

This season, they’ll have a chance to even finish better. Leuchars and Dangleis are focused on individual improvement first, however.

“Our goal is basically have everyone improve in individual ways,” said Leuchars. “We want everyone to improve their times but we also really want to put a huge emphasis on technique.”

The coaching duo also noted some improvements they could make in how the team trains.

“We know the mistakes we made last year and we’re ready to correct those mistakes,” said Dangleis. “This year, our key goal is to work on efficiency and then yardage. Since it’s such a short season, I’d rather them be efficient in the water and then we can sprint them from there.

“Swimming is changing, it’s not about how many yards you can put up, it’s how effective you can be in the water.”

The short season entails several swim meets, including one every weekend heading into the divisional meet, which Glasgow hosts this year, on July 27.

Up first, though, Glasgow will travel to Roundup for their second meet of the season on Saturday.