Tompkins Weekly

Dryden building strong swim program



The Dryden boys swimming team practices ahead of their first virtual meet on Jan. 20. Photo by Ryan Carmody.

When looking at the Section IV Championship results for boys swimming last year, you’d notice that Dryden’s competitors were all underclassmen. While the scores may have been low, there is plenty of room to grow, and they’ll be doing so under first-year coach Ryan Carmody.

Carmody has a team of three freshmen, three juniors and two seniors to coach this season. He comes from a swimming background, being a former high school swimmer himself from Valley Central High School, which is near Poughkeepsie.

While this is a unique season to start coaching a team because of the pandemic, he’s looking to set a solid foundation to build upon for years to come.

“My goal this first season is just to have everything run smoothly, have the kids PR and have a good time,” he said. “I also want them to stay as safe as possible with everything going on. I just want to make sure my kids are improving this year, getting a little bit better than last year, growing the program a little bit.”

It’s been a very long time since anybody competed, but before they’re able to do so, six practices must be completed. Dryden checked that box Jan. 19, with the first virtual swim meet scheduled for Jan. 20. Carmody gave his thoughts on this year’s virtual meets in which competitors won’t be seen.

“It’s very interesting,” he said. “I know it’s going to take a lot of self-motivation to do it, but that’s kind of what swimming is in general because you’re by yourself so often in the pool with your head down because you’re swimming laps and not talking to anybody. But it is going to be more difficult not racing against anybody. I think our guys will be able to pull it off racing against each other.”

Even though the meets will be virtual this year, the competitive nature of the team is pulsing throughout the locker room.

“[They are] a little bit nervous just because it’s been so long since competing,” Carmody said. “But obviously, they’re there. They’re excited. They’re ready to go. It’s been the first time in many months that they’re able to compete in anything for a lot of them, so they’re very excited for it.”

In order to compete, protocols must be followed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Carmody discussed the guidelines in place at Dryden.

“We’re utilizing both locker rooms to space out the guys as much as possible to make sure they have their own designated area,” he said. “They have to wear their mask, obviously, in the locker room and on the pool deck. In the pool, they’re not wearing a mask because that would be impossible, but in the pool, they’re also spaced out as much as possible. Right now, for practice, we have two guys to a lane, and we try to have them start at opposite ends too, so that way they’re not around each other too much.”

As much as this isn’t a normal season, just being able to swim at all is exciting for the team.

“It’s been awesome,” Carmody said. “The guys are really excited to be back into it, which I’m loving. We’re finding some sort of normalcy back in our lives. The team’s been great so far. It’s pretty much whatever I say, they’re very apt to do it right away.”

Another aspect of this season is that boys swimming is never first in the academic year. The multisport athletes on the team typically have a season under their belts before hitting the pool in the winter.

“Most of our guys are multisport athletes, and they are playing other things in the fall or in the spring,” Carmody said. “It’s a little bit of time to get them back in shape and get them ready and into swim shape. But I think their excitement for it also is at the same level as that.”

Looking ahead, Carmody has a plan to lift Dryden to the top of the boys swimming standings in future years.

“I’d like to be winning as much as possible in a few years,” he said. “I want to grow this program from the ground up and actually start a club program here in Dryden so that we can have kids swimming year-round from the ages of 5 and up.”

The importance of a youth program can not be understated, with many successful sports teams across the country having one to keep the talent flowing into high school.

“It’s the most important thing, I believe, just to have guys who are ready for modified and the varsity level coming into seventh grade, teaching them everything and getting their stroke ready to get the proper conditioning to handle that varsity workload,” Carmody said.

While Carmody has eyes on the future, his young team will start competition this week. It’s a strange year to begin coaching a new team, but Carmody is up to the challenge.

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