Members of the Jersey Shore Summer Swim Team, past and present, that have utilized the benefits of swimming for cross-training purposes. Seated (left to right) Brooke Koch, Jamie Mason, and Katie Flook, Standing (left to right) Maddi Thompson, Cody Mason, and Ian Endersen.
A number of Jersey Shore scholastic athletes are using the summer swim team as a tune-up for high school and club sports. These groups of athletes can be broken down into two groups; those that love swimming as their primary athletic endeavor and those that chose other sports as preferred activity.Cody Mason, a seventh place finisher in PIAA wrestling’s heavy weight class, is one of those that swam during the summer months to prepare for his favorite sport, wrestling. Mason understood the many benefits of swimming, surprisingly, as he became more proficient in wrestling. Wrestling is a long season and he believed that swimming all those summers helped him become stronger and faster. “It also helped me a great deal with my flexibility,” said Mason. Because of these benefits, he would occasionally do some swim workouts during the wrestling season.
The track is Katie Flook’s favorite venue as she went on to capture the 100 meter hurdles in districts her freshman year. Like Mason, she utilizes swimming for cross training purposes. “It was something I started in 5th grade and it has really helped me on endurance over the years”, says Flook. She plans on continuing to swim during the summer and winter to give her an edge to win the 100 meter District IV title four consecutive years.
Ian Endresen plays a multiple of sports all season long; cross county, tennis, and high school swimming. He’s prefer to be on the pitch than anywhere else so he plays on a regional soccer club (STN) that travels throughout the Mid-Atlantic region during the year. “Swimming is definitely tough’, said Endresen, “not only physically because of all the yardage but mentally. It helps me prepare for the long sporting season.”
Of course, softball is top dog for Brooke Koch (as she led her team to the PIAA State Championship game. Swimming was a key component in her athletic development. “I started out around the age of 9, and if I hadn’t been swimming, I wouldn’t have done much. it kept me motivated,” said Koch. Her success on land has been replicated in water as she was part of a 200 yard freestyle relay team that took seventh in PIAA swimming this year.
The other group of athletes is those that swim because they love it and are darn good at it. Although Jamie Mason runs track and plays soccer, she feels most comfortable in the water. “My whole family did it (Cody above) with dad teaching me in the backyard pool”, says Mason. She was also part of the seventh place relay with Brooke Koch, Danielle McPherson and Maddi Thompson. Mason just moved up into a new age group for the summer swim season and feels that the competition will be tough. “I feel that the competition within will be harder than outside the team because I’m going against the likes of McPherson and Thompson”
Maddi Thompson comes from a long line of swimmers that have utilized the summer swim team as a way to continue swimming all year long. Sure, she cross trains with track and field but it is the water that reigns. She has been a part of three relays the past three years that have placed very high at PIAA swimming. In addition, she captured 5th place in the 100 yard freestyle. “I love swimming because I’m better at it,” says Thompson. She will be a key component if the 15-and-over girls want to repeat as age group champions in this summer’s Bald Eagle Swim League.
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