With the championship season nearly a month away, Chaska/Chanhassen has some swimmers who are not only looking to earn a trip to the Class 2A state meet, but also are leading the program on and off the pool deck.
StormHawks head coach Joe Mau said what defines the program is the consistency of their difficult practices and how it translates come race time. Swimmers new to the high school program might drop significant time to start but then plateau, which is when Mau knows it is time to get a little more uncomfortable at practices.
“I kind of chirp at the boys a little bit about, ‘Hey, no challenge, no change.’ So if you want to get fast, you have to be challenged,” Mau said.
Four athletes who have been up for the challenge and helped establish the strong team culture include seniors Lucas Becker and William Currie, junior Casey Bretz and sophomore Casey Parker. Because of their work ethic in practice, Mau said the four set the tone for the rest of the StormHawks and could be primed to swim at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center March 2-4.
According to Mau, Bretz has really stepped up throughout his junior season and could swim any stroke or any distance or sprint event successfully. The coach said he is looking forward to the end of the season when he is challenged with figuring out the events for Bretz to swim.
“In the past, I’ve always kind of been under the idea that whatever [Mau] puts me in I’m going to swim it to the best of my ability,” Bretz said. “And I’ve honestly been okay with [Mau] putting me in any event, but especially this year with the seniors leaving I feel like I’ve really needed to step up as a swimmer and really make sure that I’m a model for the younger kids.”
Similar to Bretz, Parker has also been a versatile swimmer in the StormHawks’ lineup. Mau said Parker has been a surprise swimmer as a sophomore because of the jump he has made between this season and last. Parker was an alternate for the state meet last season, but wants to push it one step further now.
“[State] has been my overarching goal for a while now,” Parker said.
As a senior captain, Becker is the team’s fastest sprinter and has set his sights on state titles in the 50 and 100 freestyle. But on top of individual accomplishments, he came into the season with the goal of helping others feel included. Becker did not know many of the other swimmers when he joined the team, but then-senior Jack Dahlgren helped introduce him to others, made him feel welcomed and now he wants younger swimmers to feel the same.
“You’re swimming for other guys, and you’re held accountable by everyone around you. And you’re not just performing for yourself. You’re performing for an entire team and it’s a really fun environment,” Becker said.
“It’s gonna be really fun to see how Lucas stacks up at the end of the year. He’s just been outstanding,” Mau said.
Currie is another senior captain who has improved in the water, but what is especially valued by the StormHawks is his leadership. According to Mau, Currie is the team’s “enthusiastic, motivational, in-your-face” leader of the group. Mau said he was joking with assistant coach Adam Gannon about not knowing what they will do when Currie is gone.
“He just knows what it takes to be fast and the work and he’s not afraid to call guys out, getting them going on time,” Mau said. “He leads by example in the pool, he works his tail off. When the day is done, you can’t look at William Currie and go ‘Well, he didn’t really work hard today.’”
Currie said it would mean everything to him to make it to the state meet again as he, Bretz and Becker swam in it last season. While the feeling of making it to the meet would be “the cherry on top,” it is not Currie’s favorite aspect of the sport.
“The best thing about the sport of swimming is the people. It’s really the people that make it. The people are just amazing,” Currie said.
He added: “I can tell you that coming to practice with these guys really makes the sport amazing. There’s nothing like coming to practice with a bunch of buddies working hard, getting a good workout in and then having a few laughs. It’s incomparable.”
With a third-place finish at the section 2AA True Team meet Jan. 14, Chaska/Chanhassen earned a wild-card bid for the Class 2A True Team state meet Jan. 21. After that, the StormHawks have only two meets before the section 2AA meet Feb. 22. Chaska/Chanhassen will swim at Blake/Breck Jan. 26 and then host Delano/Watertown-Mayer Jan. 31.
Results
The StormHawks fell 114-72 on Jan. 17 to Wayzata. Lucas Becker was the lone athlete from Chaska/Chanhassen who earned a first-place finish, clocking a 2:04.35 in the 200 IM. Casey Bretz (200 freestyle, 1:48.98; 500 freestyle, 4:55.29) and Casey Parker (50 freestyle, 22.72; 100 breaststroke, 1:05.03) each earned a pair of second-place finishes, and the StormHawks also placed second in the 200 medley relay (1:43.48), 200 freestyle relay (1:30.52) and 400 freestyle relay (3:25.12).
