Silver Valley Swim Team looks to grow roster

For years, they’ve been the little fishes in a big pond — but the group formerly known as the Wallace Swim Team is looking to change that — In fact, new head coach Bryan Stepro is going for a complete re-brand.

Now under the banner of the Silver Valley Swim Team (SVST), Stepro is hoping that more kids will feel inclined to join the community team.

Not many of the smaller school districts in North Idaho offer swimming as an extracurricular activity, which means that when SVST competes, more often than not they are swimming against full teams of athletes from the biggest schools in the state.

In swimming, all 5A schools (1,280 stduents or above) compete in the same classification, with 4A (1,279 and below) in the other.

This has been one of the bigger challenges for a school the size of Wallace, which may only have had seven or eight kids (boys and girls) participate in the team.

Through a co-op with neighboring Kellogg and Mullan school districts, any high schooler in the Silver Valley was eligible to participate in the swim team — Stepro is hoping that unifying the team will attract a few more students from those other districts to join the ranks this season and help them compete against 4A and 5A schools.

The way Stepro describes it makes swimming sound a lot like what you’d hear from a track or golf coach.

“Swimming, like other sports, is goal-oriented. You set a goal at the start of the season, and you work to meet the goal that you set,” Stepro said. “Yes, you are swimming against other kids and teams but at the end of the day, you are only trying to better yourself, against your own best time.”

While many athletes gravitate toward team sports like football or volleyball in the fall, individual sports like cross country or swimming work in the periphery to recruit kids still looking for something to do and somewhere to belong.

And for those who may want to dip their toes in the waters of competitive swimming, Stepro will teach you everything you need to know, even if that includes learning how to swim.

“You don't have to be in shape to join the team, you don't even need to know how to swim,” he said. “The swim team will help you learn to swim, and get you into shape to be a competitive swimmer. And if you are a basketball player or a wrestler you will be in better shape to start your next basketball or wrestling season.”

This year, Stepro has scheduled five meets and each swimmer can participate in up to four specific events, including two individual and two relay events.

Practices begin Monday, and as long as the weather holds out, Stepro plans to keep the swimmers practicing at the Wallace Swimming Pool. Once that changes, practices will move to the Mullan Pavilion.

Above all else, Stepro wants kids to have another opportunity. An opportunity to exercise, be a part of a team, and learn a skill that they will carry with them through life.

“Swimming is a lifelong activity that can be done competitively or for fun, with friends and family,” Stepro said. “Once you learn how to swim you will have it with you for the rest of your life. It’s a full-body workout, low impact on all parts of the body, improves flexibility, and improves breathing control, Swimming is an activity for everybody young and old.”

The first practice for the Silver Valley Swim Team is Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Wallace Swimming Pool.