He started 14 years ago with 13 kids in suits down to their knees, refusing to wear speedos, but now Head Coach Paul Fairman’s Lake Orion boys? swim team has started its 2011-12 season with wins against Romeo and Stoney Creek.
The wins mark the steady incline in performance the team has seen since Fairman joined the program. Since taking over, in five years, Lake Orion has ‘podiumed? a kid at the state level and a number have reached All-American status, he said.
‘We beat both teams fairly handily in the first meet Dec. 8,? said Fairman. ‘Having a big senior group this year is helpful and I don’t think we lost maybe three events for the whole thing.?
The team’s performances, which netted it 122 to Stoney Creek’s 64 and 129 to Romeo’s 54, were not indicative of one weakness Fairman sees in the team – a lack of relay swimmers. He said as far as the team is concerned, they are the best of the ‘pretty good teams, but they’re really not that solid.? Two of his four previous relay swimmers have either graduated or decided not to swim. To make the team whole again, three swimmers are needed to fill the vacuum.
But what the team lacks in returning talent, they may make up for in sheer effort and other experience.
Returners Fairman mentioned include senior Jacob Lindquist, who the coach said swam a poor race due to lack of effort; senior Brad Horvath who stands out because of his positive attitude; and sophomore D.J. Seeds who has come along nicely since his freshman year. Seeds in particular has been on Fairman’s radar as someone who he is hoping will spread out his swimming to fill gaps as needed to help the team.
‘We were 8th place at the state meet last year and this year we’re looking at top 20 for sure. If these guys can swim out of their minds we might go top 10,? said Fairman. He added Lindquist was third in the state individually last year, won the county meet and came in first at the league meet. Horvath, seniors Charlie Maurer and Will Cavender all qualified for states last year and Seeds is proving to be a good versitle backstroker, the coach said.
‘We’ll really depend also on seniorsSteven Abramczyk and Alex Palmer, junior Brandon Nowicki, and sophomore Brendan Foxlee. We also have one really good freshman – Devon Nowicki – who swam well as a young kid and he’s now the third of three brothers to be on this team. He’s an outstanding freshman swimmer right now.?
The swim team competes against Lahser High School Dec. 17.