May 4, 2009

Josh Katzowitz
Special to Rivals High

During Olympic years, Andy Pedersen knows to expect a bump in high school swimming participation.

It makes sense, after all. For a time, once every four years, competitive swimming is the latest trend, and pools across the country are filled with enthusiasts who hope to become the next Janet Evans or the next Michael Phelps.

USA Swimming, in fact, advises its coaches to prepare themselves for a jump in participation. Coaches like Pedersen have to be ready for an influx of swimmers.

But like Phelps ? who won eight gold medals in Beijing and, in the process, smashed nearly every world record to go with them ? high school swimming exploded in popularity after his triumph this past summer. It was more than Pedersen could have expected.

"The impact was significant," said Pedersen, the boys' and girls' swim coach at Hamilton Southeast High School in suburban Indianapolis. "We struggle to put a number on it, but our tryouts were three times what they normally are, possibly four times. It was pretty phenomenal."

It has affected high school swimming in more than one way, though.

The positive is easy to spot. When Phelps and his USA teammates were swimming on a nightly basis on prime-time TV, much of the country put down the remote control and watched as the Americans tried to make history. The races, by and large, were amazing feats of speed and timing, and as big a star as Phelps was before he traveled to Beijing, he became a figure even larger than life afterward.

"The whole country dropped everything they did and watched those races," Pedersen said.

What swimmers also saw was how well those Olympians performed in their high-tech swimsuits. And if those world-class swimmers endorsed the swimsuits and bashed world records on a nightly basis, you could be sure that mentality would filter into high school swimming.

In the Ohio state championships, swimmers would wear their $300 blueseventy Nero models or their $500 Speedy LZR Racers, race in them to times never before accomplished, wash them out and pass them along to a teammate or friend.

Good enough for Phelps, good enough for the average high school swimmer.

"To be able to share a suit like this and split the cost is nice," Wyoming (Ohio) High School freshman Pat Dierker told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Every guy you swim against has one of these suits, so if you don't have one, you're already behind when you jump in the pool."

Pedersen, though, isn't a fan.

"I'm kind of an old-school guy and I did not want to deal with the suits," he said. "But I had to. I couldn't put our kids in a position to lose based on a suit. We're a Speedo team and we got some LZRs and we got some blueseventys. They were hard to come by. A lot of people complain about the price, but for me, that wasn't one of the factors.

"You couldn't even get them. There were two components at work. No. 1 was the price. No. 2 was the availability. I think it's bad, because they're so expensive, and I think the suits tend to put kids in a good position to swim fast and they somewhat make up for a little bit of hard work."

There has been research done to see what kind of impact these new swimsuits have had on the swimmers who wear them ? one of the most notable researchers is Joel Stager at Indiana University ? and the equipment does have an effect. The newest generation of swimsuits allows the swimmers to become more buoyant in the water and the swimsuits change the shape of the body to reduce drag.

But overall, Phelps and his teammates have been a good thing for high school swimming, Pedersen said. Even with Phelps' latest controversy with marijuana, he's poised to continue leading a swimming revolution.

"I truly believe that he can change our sport," Pedersen said. "I think he really believes that he's been put in a position to change it.

"There's just such a positive feel about swimming. Even though it's a time of recession and people are watching their dollars, it hasn't been that much of a factor. People want to be associated with such a good sport."

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