Story by Leah Alpern

Photo by Lauren Ogard

This year, the Grant High School girls varsity swimming team adopted a new team attitude.

Coach Laura Tyrrell said the 2011-12 team became “motivated and competitive.” The new attitude came in with a strong freshman class.

For Tyrrell, the overall youth of the team ensures that in the coming years “they will improve quite a bit.” This year’s team counts just one senior and two juniors, with the remaining eight varsity swimmers being underclassmen.

The team placed sixth at the Three Rivers District Meet, a repeat finish of last year’s team.

Standout swimmers Brianna Silva (freshman), Allison Little (sophomore) and Madeleine Kaczmarowski (junior) all placed in the top 12 in the district for their events. Silva – swimming the 100 meter breast, 200 individual medley, and two relays per meet – scored the most points for the team, 63, and won the Most Valuable Player award for Grant.

Tyrrell said the team struggled with a lack of dedication and injuries. For most girls on the team, swimming is their “second sport.”

“They do it to stay in shape during the off-season,” she says. “There have been quite a few soccer and cross country and track athletes over the years.”

Little had a shoulder injury that nagged her for most of the season, and it threatened to hurt the team at Districts, one of the most important meets of the year. But by training very lightly in the days before the big meet, she was able to push through the pain to finish ninth in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 200 medley relay.

Silva said throughout the season she admired Little and “looked up to her.”

“In a way I looked up to her and Maddy (Kaczmarowski) because they were fast and had good technique. I always wanted to be in their lane and swim with them. Next year, I hope to be looked up to by new freshman like that.”

This year, the team won one more meet than it did last year, with strong wins against Oregon City and Clackamas. The night of Winter Formal, team members said they didn’t expect to win in an evening matchup against Clackamas. Partway through, some swimmers left for the dance. They didn’t find out they had won the meet until later.

In the past, girls swimming was more focused on fun and socializing. But a wave of serious new freshmen like Silva helped make the team take competition more seriously.

“In the past, there have been female athletes who come in hesitant to put themselves out there,” Tyrrell said. “They’d rather not be competitive. What’s different this year is that the new freshmen on the team were very into being varsity swimmers.”

This year’s group of freshmen “met that challenge and wanted to do what was needed to be competitive,” Tyrrell said.

“It was nice to have a more competitive atmosphere,” Little said. “I think it’s good to be competitive. But at the same time you have to remember that the point isn’t just to win. The point is to have fun and be part of the team.”

How the team will respond to the departure of Tyrrell will be interesting to see. Tyrrell is stepping down after nine years of coaching the swim program at Grant. And the swimmers said they are going to miss her.

Little described Tyrrell as “the competitive one” of two coaches, with assistant coach Stacy McCrary the “really fun and really encouraging one.”

Little said she thinks the combination of the two coaches contributes to the all-around vibe of hard work mixed with fun. Team members hope that whoever replaces Tyrrell can keep the balance between work and fun.

As the girls program looks to expand and improve under new leadership, coach Tyrrell’s parting words predict future success for the girl’s team.

“We have a good base for the future,” she said. “ We’ll get stronger every year. All in all, it was a good season.”

Season Stats

West Linn 76-88 L
Lakeridge 59-111 L
Clackamas 87-83 W
Canby 52-118 L
Lake Oswego 48-122 L
Oregon City 90-71 W

Key losses

Alison Lasher
Lindsey Miller

Top returners

Allison Little (Soph.)
Madeleine Kaczmarowski (Jr.)
Brianna Silva (Fr.)