Four Evergreen Swim Club Members Compete at Western Zone Championships

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Four Evergreen Swim Club members competed at the Western Zone Championships. (From left): Annika Eisele, Hannah Barker, Alex Wright and Everett Werner
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By Gail Wood

color graphicsLast September, when Randy Trowbridge returned to Olympia to become the head coach of the Evergreen Swim Club, his mission was to raise the level of performance.

Consider it mission accomplished.

With Trowbridge’s team committing to two-a-day workouts, four Evergreen swimmers – Hannah Barker, Annika Eisele, Everett Werner and Alex Wright – qualified and placed at the Western Zone Championship meet at Federal Way in early August.

evergreen swim club
Four Evergreen Swim Club members competed at the Western Zone Championships. (From left): Annika Eisele, Hannah Barker, Alex Wright and Everett Werner

At the Pacific Northwest championships, a qualifier for the Western Zone meet, Wright won seven of the eight events he qualified in, helping Evergreen take a best-ever 11th place finish. Evergreen had 14 swimmers qualify for that meet.

“They’ve made some great strides this year,” Trowbridge said about his team. “They’ve worked hard for it. So, they’ve earned it. They’re swimming at a totally different level now.”

At the Pacific Northwest championships, Wright, competing in the 14-year-old division, was a one-man team as he won the 200 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke, 100 backstroke, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle. He placed third in the 200 IM. His winning 400 IM time broke a 12-year-old meet record.

A week later at the Western Zone and against some of the top swimmers in the country, Wright won three events, placing first in the 800 freestyle, 400 freestyle, and the 200 freestyle. He placed third in the 100 back stroke, second in the 200 butterfly and fifth in the 200 backstroke. Wright also swam legs on four relays, competing on the 400 medley (10th), 200 freestyle (10th), 400 medley (12th), and the 200 medley relay (second).

evergreen swim club
Alex Wright stands behind the starting blocks before his 200 butterfly race.

Werner competed in six individual events at the Western Zone, placing seventh in the 800 free, seventh in the 200 back, 15th in the 400 IM, 10th in the 400 freestyle, sixth in the 1,500 freestyle and seventh in the 200 butterfly. In the relays, Werner swam a leg on the 400 free (10th), 200 free (10th) 400 medley (second) and 200 medley (second).

Trowbridge, who helped start the Evergreen Swim Club 31 years ago, is impressed with his team’s progress.

“I’m very proud of them,” Trowbridge said. “And I’m impressed with their poise in managing two championship meets essentially back to back and doing so well.”

At Western Regional, which included teams from 12 west coast states and was held in Federal Way, Barker and Eisele also placed. Barker was 10th in the 200 backstroke, third in the 800 free, 15th in the 100 back, 16th in the 400 free, and 10th in the 1,500 free. She also swam on relays in the 400 free (ninth), 400 medley (11th) and 200 medley (12th).

Eisele swam in two individual events and three relays. She placed ninth in the 50 butterfly and 12th in the 100 butterfly.

Tiffany Wright, an Evergreen Club assistant coach and Alex’s mother, was impressed with Evergreen’s improvement in the past year.

evergreen swim club
Everett Werner takes a breath during the 400 IM.

“They worked very hard,” Wright said. “Swimming can be so difficult because it’s a singular sport. It’s not really a team sport. You’re in the water by yourself. Swim up and down the pool. You have teammates. But you’re under water so much of the time.”

As a result, Wright said it’s the individual swimmer who has to push themselves.

Trowbridge is pleasantly surprised by his team’s progress in the past 11 months.

“It was a surprise to me what they did,” he said. “You do that with training and raising everyone to a new level of fitness.”

Trowbridge began coaching while attending Olympia High School, working with the YMCA. After swimming at Western Washington University, Trowbridge returned to Olympia and was part of the founding of the Evergreen Swim Club in 1983. In 1986, he moved to Wisconsin and coached the Verona Aquatics Club until returning to Olympia last year.

evergreen swim club
Annika Eisele swims backstroke.

“I am back where it all started and my dream is to guide as many athletes as I possibly can in fulfilling their dreams in competitive swimming,” Trowbridge said.

Trowbridge sees and appreciates the lessons swimming teaches. He said it helps young swimmers develop discipline, determination, leadership, poise and perseverance. In swimming, as in other sports, Trowbridge said the biggest challenge is learning how to cope with setbacks, with defeat.

“You’ve been knocked down and then you have to get back up,” Trowbridge said. “It doesn’t matter if you fall down. You just don’t want to lie down. You have to stand back up. Every race is a new beginning.”

That’s one of the many lessons Trowbridge teaches his swimmers at Evergreen Swim Club.

evergreen swim club
Hannah Barker swims the 400 freestyle.

Now, Trowbridge is looking forward to taking them to the next step, to the next level of competition where his swimmers start qualifying for national meets. Alex Wright has already qualified for a national meet in Orlando, Florida.

“That will take us to a totally different level,” Trowbridge said. “We have a few others knocking on that door. That’s the next thing. I’m excited for the kids. But having been there before I know that means a lot of travel.”

To learn more about the Evergreen Swim Club, click here.

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