by Maralyn Fink
Camera in hand, I visited the High School Boys Varsity Swim Team on January 18th with Jackson Varsity Team. Both teams had excellent swimmers.
I met with Coach Kim Brewbaker after the meet and learned that he has been coaching the team for 11 years and had worked under Coach Jim Makarauskas for 3 years.
There are 32 members on the team consisting of freshman through seniors. Little did I realize that team practice is on Monday-Wednesday-Friday starting at 5:15 am until 7:00 am and 4-6 p.m. Is it even light at 5 am, I wondered.
Coach said that this year’s team is a fairly young team after a loss of seniors last year, but he feels that the team is rebuilding the program.
Swimming starts in November and continues until the middle of March.
There will be a conference meet on February 24 and 25 in East Lansing. State finals are based on qualifying times in order to be in that particular meet. State Finals will be held on March 9 and 10. I have no doubt that this team will be making those finals. This is very ambitious team, and they are very supportive of each other.
Coach Brewbaker said that his Assistant coach, Jim Makarauskas, has been his mentor for many years now and has done an incredible job; and Coach Kim feels fortunate to have him on staff and being able to work with him.
Along with the Assistant Coach Dana Kirk, a former swimmer, was the Official at this meet.
The outcome of this game — St Johns took the honors. Congratulations to Coach Brewbaker, and the St Johns Boys Swim Team!
Stop in and watch these swimmers perform at the next meet on Thursday, February 2 starting at 6 p.m. Note: rescheduled for February 14 at 6 p.m.