Daily Sitka Sentinel

Baranof Barracudas Brave the Brute Squad

By GARLAND KENNEDY

Sentinel Sports Editor

Sitka’s swimmers returned to form with a challenging long-course event and an unconventional three-part race in the Blatchley pool last month.

Zach Martens swims the butterfly in 2019. (Photo provided)

After the pandemic limited opportunities, Baranof Barracudas coach Kevin Knox wanted a chance for his swimmers to compete again.

“There’s been such a lack of competition available across the state for kids, so I put these two together,” Knox said over the phone. “I wanted to put something together that was more unique.”

He found his answer in the form of a brute squad. Normally run as a practice instead of as a race, a brute squad includes a 200-yard butterfly, a 400 individual medley, and a 1,650 freestyle.

Coming in at over a mile, it’s a tough event.

“It was my first time swimming something like that,” Barracudas swimmer Bridget Ford told the Sentinel. “It was a little exhausting but it was rewarding in the end.”

At just 13, Ford was uncertain whether or not she could complete the race when she first jumped in the pool.

“It was, I think, kind of enjoyable knowing I was able to do that… I didn’t really think I could do it,” Ford said.

She completed the race in 38:16.97. The only Sitkan in her age category who finished ahead of her was Makenna Stevens, who touched the wall after 36:29.81.

Thinking back on the event, Ford said she knew as she began the 1,650 that she could do it.

“It felt like I could put forth more effort knowing that I had the strength to do it,” she recalled.

But the eighth-grader was not the youngest swimmer in the pool.

Already a fan of longer races, Zach Martens, 11, a sixth-grader, noted that he has endured similar swims in practice, but not in competition.

“We used to do it except we never did it for time and racing people, but it was really fun for me… The 500 (free) is one of my favorite things to swim,” Martens told the paper. He hopes to keep improving his 500 free time.

In his age group, Martens competed in a mini-brute squad, which included 100 yards of butterfly, a 200 IM, and a 500 free. He won his age group by a confident margin, coming in at 10:58.13. The next swimmer was a full two minutes behind.

His coach noted that while some swimmers struggled with the event, others were impressed by the fact that they could complete it.

“They all got in and did it. Some of them did it and were like, ‘Wow, I didn’t think I could do that,’” Knox said. “A 200 fly or a 100 fly for the little kids is a feat in itself.”

Younger swimmers were joined in the pool by high schoolers and a number of masters as well. Sitka High swimmer Emma Gassman finished the event in 29:31.90, with her teammate on the Wolves squad, Matt Rice, finishing in 25:42.76.

Competing over 60, Lisa Jones finished in 39:48.41 followed by Dean Orbison at 44:44.02.

In a separate and very different event conducted during time trials in mid-March, swimmers competed in a series of sprints. Athletes began with a 25-yard race, then a 50, and finally a 100. For many of those in the pool, it was the first time swimming a 25-yard event for time since childhood.

“The kids really loved it, in particular the older kids love to be able to swim the 25 free, because they don’t get to swim the 25,” Knox said.

As usual, Zach Martens won his age group, completing the events in a total time of 1:48.49. The next swimmer was five seconds behind.

Martens said he enjoyed the brief race.

“It was fun and it wasn’t too hard,” he said. Moving forward, he wants to improve his backstroke and flip-turns, he added.

In contrast to the test of endurance in the brute squad, Ford said the freestyle sprints went by quickly.

“It was kind of because we have small, minimal breaks, it went by fast,” she said. She completed the race in 1:55.83.

Looking back on a year in which in-person swim meets have been rare, Ford was happy to be back in the pool.

“It’s fun, I really enjoyed it. I really missed it because before COVID there were tons of people and it gets you all amped up and since COVID we haven’t really had that. It was still a fun experience,” she said. Ford plans to swim in high school.

Knox would like to see events like these become annual traditions.

“I hope to continue these as kind of annual events in the state and whether the Barracudas run it every year or if it kind of rotates between teams,” Knox said. “I think it will be a fun tradition. We had a number compete this time around in both events.”

Other teams from Juneau to Craig participated virtually and submitted times for events as well.

For Knox, the races were a good chance for swimmers to see how they compared to other swimmers during a season defined by isolation.

“The older kids don’t have a lot of swim meets… Without being able to compete head to head they have no real way of seeing how they’re doing compared to their peers,” he said.

The Barracudas compete again late this month in the virtual Alaska age group championships.