Published: November 02, 2009 11:01 pm      

Diving into the season

Duncan swim team to open season today

DUNCAN — With softball safely on the sidelines and basketball still on the horizon, football will get another partner on the sports schedule.

The Duncan swimming team will open its season today at the Simmons Center when it hosts Westmoore, Midwest City, Del City and Carl Albert. As a team, the girls led the way last season but with a strong group of boys, led by state placer Austin Bowles, it will be the boys that will carry the banner for the Demons early in the season as the girls build up experience.

“We had some boys go to swim camp at Texas A&M this summer and I think that it really helped them,” Duncan assistant coach Audra Hale said. “They have developed into leaders and we have high expectations for them.”

Among those going to swim camp was Bowles, who placed fifth in the 100-meter breast stroke at the state meet last season. This season, Bowles would like to expand his portfolio and has put in the work to give himself the best chance to do so.

“I’m in the water as much as I can, I really love it,” Bowles said. “This season, I want to place in the top two in state as an individual in the 100 breast and motivate the team to do better. If we work hard, the guys can place pretty well.”

Bowles will enter the season focusing on the breast stroke as well as putting in time on three relays. In high school swimming, athletes can qualify for state throughout the year based on their times and Bowles would like to take care of qualifying as soon as possible, starting tonight.

“I’m going to go all out right off the bat,” he said.

The girls team was hurt by graduation and will be in rebuilding mode early in the season. Tonight’s meet will be a testing ground of sorts for the Lady Demons as they begin to find out what kind of team they have.

“This will be a measuring stick for the girls to see where they need to go,” Hale said. “We have lost a lot of girls to graduation and in a sense, we are in a rebuilding phase. We are looking for leaders in and out of the pool.”

The team began working out in August twice a week and picked up the pace to full week workouts starting in October. Numbers are down from last season because of a sizable graduating class in addition to several swimmers leaving to take up different pursuits. Add in a small freshman class, and the team has a different makeup than it did last year.

But that does not mean there is a lack of talent and potential. For the girls, it will be about getting their feet wet in competition. As for the boys, they might not have to wait long to see instant results.

“We have high expectations for them,” Hale said. “Some of them may get close to state qualifying times in the first meet.”