By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
Four Niles athetes are so dedicated to their sport that they continue to perform despite the schools lack of a team.
Freshman Megan Curry, sophomore Carrie Ann Jones, junior Stephanie Gray and junior Tonia Hauser are swimmers without a home team. Niles dropped its swimming program two years ago because of lack of involvement, athletics director John Danaher said.
To satisfy their desire to swim, the girls travel almost 25 miles to swim with the Bridgman Co-op swim team, a team comprised of swimmers from five area schools that don't have enough athletes for their own teams.
The four Niles swimmers drove half and hour to Bridgman High School and half an hour back everyday after school for about two months during the season, which ended Oct. 30. While the hour's commute got old, the girls it was worth it to swim on a team.
Curry, 15, has been on swim teams since she was 8 years old. She's swam with the Niles-Buchanan YMCA Gators and the Racer X swim club in South Bend, Ind. But she wanted to compete at the high school level, and the Bridgman team was the only opportunity.
Swimmers from Niles, Lakeshore, River Valley, Lake Michigan Catholic and Bridgman have the chance to be on the co-op team. Bridgman coach Matt Binns said that this year's team had seven athletes from Bridgman, six from Lakeshore and four from Niles.
Because the team encorporates five schools, it competes at the Class A level and is part of the Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference. This year the team had one of its most successful in recent memory, Binns said.
The swimmers won three meets and scored 89 points at the conference championship. Last year, Bridgman failed to win a meet and scored just 18 points at conference.
It was the first year on the team for all four Vikings, but that didn't stop them from contributing significantly. Binns said all performed well enough to earn varsity letters in swimming.
To earn a letter from Binns, each had to score 10 points at meets throughout the season. In swimming, the top four finishers in each race earn points, with first place receiving the most. The swimmers must also attend every practice and meet for the team to earn a letter.
All four of the Niles' girls well exceeded the criteria. Hauser scored 117.5 points for the team, Gray scored 111.5, Curry scored 70 and Jones scored 47.5.
Though the letters were earned at Bridgman, Danaher said the swimmers will receive athletic letters from Niles. They are Viking athletes, he said, that just happen to perform in another building.
Binns said the Vikings also contributed to the Bridgman team with their positive attitudes.
Jeff Curry, Megan's father, said the Bridgman co-op team highlights the YMCA's need for a full-length pool. One of the reasons Niles couldn't have a swim team, Curry said, is the fact that the Niles-Buchanan YMCA's pool is not regulation length.
The YMCA currently has its own swim team, the Gators, of kids ages 5 to 16, which is popular locally. Jeff Curry hopes that once the new YMCA is built in 2005, Niles can start up its own swim program again.
Megan Curry said one of the benefits of swimming at a different school is meeting new people and making new teammates and friends. She said it took a while for the team to gel since it was made up of three schools, but once it did, she and the other girls became best friends.
As the girls came together as a team and as friends, driving an hour each day became less and less of a hassle. Now that the seasons, over, Curry said she misses her teammates. Binns said he knew the girls enjoyed the season because they've all said they miss swimming.
Bridgman also offers a boys' co-op swim team. As of right now, Niles has one boy who plans to join the team and make the hour's commute each day after school.
Binns said anyone interested in joining the swim team should call him at (269) 466-0286.
Curry said she plans to continue swimming for Bridgman for the rest of her high school career. While it may be a long drive, she said, it's worth it to satisfy her love of swimming.