Cream Rises to the Top at SNOW
The senior men's team at SNOW Swimming is hot! A relatively young team in USA Swimming, SNOW consistently produces more than its share of USA Swimming and high school local, state and regional champions. The senior men's squad consists of 17 Loudoun County male athletes, many of whom have swum together since elementary school. Now, as they each represent SNOW and their individual high schools, their commitment to the sport over the years is starting to shine through. The "tribe" as they are often referred to is poised to show their stuff at the upcoming high school district and state meets.
Callum Lawson, a junior at Dominion High School in Sterling, has reached his USA Swimming sectional cut times and at age 16 is pursuing his 18&Under US National cuts. His upcoming performances at districts should result in gold or sliver finishes and he should be a final contender at the state meet in the 100 and 200 freestyle. "Callum is a very tough racer," says Coach Pliuskaitis, his club coach at SNOW Swimming. Balancing school and both year round and high school swimming proves to be stressful for all of these athletes. Loudoun County Athletic Department requires 100% attendance from the swim team members in order to receive letter awards or compete at the end of season meets, even if their high school practice time conflicts or is very late. Practice times at the Ida Lee Rec Center are from 8:30-9:30pm or 9:30-10:30pm.
Some schools have had to schedule their practices outside of the County before school begins in the morning. Juggling all of this can be frustrating at times and Coach Freeman from Dominion says it is one of the hardest things about her job. Coach Freeman was a year round swimmer and says she really feels for year round swimmers when she has to pull them away from their teams. "Callum does a really good job of balancing everything, he is a great kid and a wonderful leader for the team," says Coach Freeman. Next year Callum would like to throw another "wrench" in the mix and travel out to Monroe Tech Center to take courses and pursue some of his future dreams which include a degree in Computing and Information Science with a concentration in Graphics and 3-D Animation. Schools that he is interested in include Cornell and UVA.
Ryan Loweth, a senior at Loudoun County High school began swimming a bit later in his life but has made the most of his swimming career. "Ryan's growth as a swimmer over the years has been quite remarkable," says Coach Pliuskaitis. Ryan should win the 100 backstroke at the upcoming district meet and be in the running for a medal finish at states. He is currently in pursuit of his USA Sectionals cuts. As with most serious swimmers, traditionally committed students and high achievers, there is an additional side to his extensive talents and gifts. Ryan is a very talented musician and guitar player. He has his sights set on USC, ASU or Johns Hopkins, with his degree aspirations being a major in music. Ryan says that this year has been easier than the past years to balance school, year round swimming and a high school sport.
"It consumes half of my life but it means so much to me, it is worth it!"
In addition to the twelve+ hours they spend together in the water, the SNOW senior men claim three of the founding members of the Loudoun County Academy of Science; Devin Bowers, Tom Casey and Danny Durazo. Devin, a sophomore at Potomac Falls and the Academy of Science, has a lot on his plate also. This year has been particularly tough with a significant surgery early in the season and an additional course in "0" period, before school, has kept Devin in the catch-up mode. Despite these setbacks, Devin is hoping to medal in his district events and be a serious contender at the AA VHSL State meet.
Coach Pliuskaitis says Devin's fast swimming comes from persistence and intelligence, "Devin approaches swimming very methodically, as such he has a very good understanding of the sport." He is just beginning to explore college choices and is looking at Div 1, Div 2 and Div 3 schools to make a good fit with swimming and a physics or engineering degree.
Some of his top choices include University of Texas, Princeton and Drexel. Devin has been swimming for eleven years; I commented that that was a long time. Devin said, "It has been a very good eleven years."
