The past and present of prep swimming

Lake City High swim coach Bob Wood has seen his fair share of athletes come and go in his 25 years coaching high school swimming.

He’s had a hand in building programs at Coeur d’Alene, Lake City, Post Falls, Lakeland, Wallace and Mullan.

And he’s enjoyed every second of it.

“One of the coaches talked me into helping them out one year,” Wood said. “I’ve been doing it ever since.”

AND WOOD has seen plenty of changes to the sport since the time he started coaching.

“There’s been a lot of great chances,” Wood said. “25 years ago, high school swimming here was a joke. The times were a joke. During that time, we’ve seen a big evolution with the times, and we see that in CAST (Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team).”

Wood, 64, has been involved with CAST, and coached at Lake City, the last 14 years.

“You see that same evolution and those times grow,” Wood said. “It’s been remarkable. The athleticism is a quantum leap higher.”

Technology has also improved over the years.

“It’s the feedback available to those kids,” Wood said. “Cell phones, most of them you can take videos and do a stroke analysis. So many of the kids learn visually, and when you’ve got that around the pool, it really adds to the swimming. Right now, everyone has a camera and a way to film somebody. They can show them what they’re doing right and wrong. The coaching is way better, and there’s been an evolution in that as well. You can look online and get quality information. That really helps too.”

And Wood has seen the good and great ones come and go. Sarah Nicholls (breaststroke), Bryce Kananowicz (200 individual medley in Canada), Chris Wood (100 freestyle) and Ben Lovell (50 freestyle) — all coached by Wood — have competed at the national level in swimming.

“When you coach for 25 years, it’s hard to single some of special kids out,” Wood said. “I’ve been lucky enough to coach four swimmers to go to the Olympic Trials. We’ve put an amazing number of kids into scholarships for college.”

While Wood hasn’t been a head coach the entire 25 years — he’s also been an assistant to promote others into his role — it’s the athletes that keep him coming back.

“It’s energizing for me,” Wood said. “You walk onto the pool deck, and you’re with kids that are willing to work hard. Nobody sits on the bench. Every workout that you have, everyone has a goal. To have 30 to 40 kids looking at you being ready to go, it bodes well. Some say that kids are going to hell in a handbasket, but I don’t see that. They’re working harder than they were 20 years ago. It’s amazing, just amazing to see that kind of dedication. I don’t think I’ve stepped on the pool deck where I didn’t have a smile on my face.”

THE ADDITION of the Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene, which opened in May of 2009, has also changed the landscape of swimming in the area, according to Wood.

“We had a lot of pool problems in the last 25 years,” Wood said. “We were practicing in an athletic club in Liberty Lake, but it was too shallow and you couldn’t do flip turns. We had 105 swimmers on the team then, and it’s great to have the Kroc now. We don’t have enough space for all the schools, and wish it was twice the size it is, but it’s a lot better than it was before.”

Lake City, under the guidance of Wood, swept 5A Region 1 titles last week at the University of Idaho pool in Moscow. The Timberwolves qualified 24 for the state meet, which concludes today at the West Valley YMCA in Boise.

“It’s pretty rare to sweep regional titles,” Wood said. “It’s unusual to have depth on both the boys and girls side. We’ve got a group of kids that are willing to work hard. Usually the talent is pretty spread out between Lake City and Coeur d’Alene from the CAST program, but we just happened to get a lot of kids that ended up at Lake City. We’ve got a great group of kids, and it’s great to see that.”

As far as how Lake City stacks up with the rest of the state this weekend?

“It’s going to be a great competition,” Wood said. “We’ve got our hands full going down there. Boise is going to be tough, but it’s always exciting and a thrill to go to that facility (West YMCA in Boise). It’s a great environment and the kids always throw down when they’re there.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.