High School Swimming: Why It Might be the Hardest Sport
Photo: Julie Little, Grit Imaging
While the Blue Dolfins Foundation is committed to providing pool space for swim lessons and addressing the critical issue of drowning prevention, the new 50-meter pool will also play a pivotal role in supporting Winter Park High School athletes.
Both the swim and water polo teams currently share the school’s single 25-yard pool, and since both are year-round sports, pool time is always at a premium. The addition of a nearby 50-meter pool will ease this strain, giving athletes the space they need to train consistently. For swimmers especially, that year-round access is essential—not just for developing skills, but for staying competitive in a state where the bar is set at the highest level.
Why High School Swimming Is Unlike Any Other Sport
When most people think of high school sports, they picture Friday night football games, basketball tournaments, or soccer rivalries. A chance to try something new as a freshman and hopefully find a fun activity to enjoy. While that may be true for some sports at Winter Park, there are certain sports where year-round play has created an environment where true newbies often don’t stand a chance of making the team.
And here in the state of Florida, swimming is in a league of its own.
World Class Swimming in the Sunshine State
Florida isn’t just another swim state—it’s one of the global epicenters of the sport. The best swimmers in the world come here to train with year-round clubs.
At the 2016 Olympics for example, the state of Florida boasted over 60 Olympians that trained with local swim clubs. The state of Florida trained 6 swimmers who competed for Team USA and then claimed another 56 swimmers that represented other countries while competing in Rio. If the state of Florida had been a country, we would have placed 8th in the overall medal count just based on swimming medals alone!
This explains why the pool deck at a high school dual meet can oftentimes look more like a world-class event. Many Florida high school swimmers train year-round with elite club programs, compete at national meets, and some even qualify for World Championships, Olympic Trials, and the Olympics themselves.
Back in 2014, Bolles School in Jacksonville had Santo Condorelli, Ryan Murphy, and Joseph Schooling on the same relay. Not only did they absolutely crush the high school state and national record, but just a year and a half later, two of the boys medaled at the 2016 Olympics, with Joseph Schooling even out-touching Michael Phelps for gold in the Butterfly! That same year Caeleb Dressel swam for Creekside High School, located in the Jacksonville area, and he also medaled in Rio.
More recently, Emma Weyant won multiple high school state swim titles for Riverview High School and then, just few months later, won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Imagine Olympic medalists lining up behind the blocks against local teenagers.
The David vs. Goliath Matchup—Every Week
No other high school sport offers this dynamic. You don’t see high school football teams playing the Kansas City Chiefs, or the local basketball squad facing off against the LA Lakers. Yet in Florida swimming, that’s exactly what happens: the average high school swimmer shares the pool with some of the best athletes in the world.
At Winter Park High School this year, senior swimmer Ian Heysen is returning from competing at a world championship in Romania and the South American Games in Rio de Janeiro, while sophomore swimmer Denzo Senekal is currently ranked number one in the nation for backstroke and freestyle.
But the Wildcats are not unique. High school swim teams across the state have their own elite swimmers, creating a true battle when it comes to the championship season.
Winter Park’s legacy speaks for itself: the boy’s team has brought home 14 state titles, while the girls have earned 12. In 1984, Winter Park High School saw 7 of its swimmers at the U.S. Olympic Trials, the most of any high school in the nation.
That’s an impressive record, but the true story goes beyond state championships. It’s about the level of competition these athletes face every single season.
Why the New Pool Matters
While the first priority for the new pool at Cady Way is more space for residents and swim lessons, a secondary benefit is a state-of-the-art facility for these athletes to train year round. Right now, Cady Way has only 6 lanes with a very shallow end and with hundreds of athletes and city residents wanting to swim daily, the current pool space is painfully restricted. An additional pool will alleviate this.
As for Winter Park High School, the competition may be fierce, but it also forges resilience, discipline, and camaraderie that last a lifetime. And for the fans in the stands? It’s like watching the future of Team USA unfold in your own backyard!
To help make the new pool a reality, consider spreading word or making a tax-deductible donation.