Addison Trail/Willowbrook swim co-op? It's a gas

Got chlorine?

The boys swimming co-operative from Addison Trail and Willowbrook got its fill of the stuff practicing in a park district pool with a belching hot tub nearby.

"We just gut it out," said Brett Buchanan, a junior at Willowbrook. "We're used to not having a lot."

Their perseverance was rewarded. Buchanan's ninth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke finals Saturday at New Trier was good for all-state and may be good enough for All-America when nationwide marks come in, according to AT/WB coach Kirk Ziemke.

Buchanan's time of 58.60 seconds produced the first all-state finish in history for an Addison Trail or Willowbrook male, as IHSA records have it.

Buchanan was alone last year at the finals in Evanston, unable to make it out of preliminaries. Buchanan was not alone at New Trier.

Seniors Kyle Kummer and Jakub Strycharz of Addison Trail and Willowbrook juniors Buchanan and Gabe Chanez set a program-record of 1 minute, 39.55 seconds in the 200-yard medley relay at the Downers Grove North sectional to reach the state meet with a 31 seed.

They didn't make the finals, but their time of 1:39.74 was good for 27th place, a bump up from their seed.

The principals of both schools came to the meet, as well as the entire team.

"They were just so excited that the last possible day of the swim season we were still competing," said three-year coach Kirk Ziemke, an all-state swimmer at Lockport.

This is a team without a mascot, a team that agreed on black and white as its team colors.

Like some co-ops, such as the Wheaton schools, neither Addison Trail nor Willowbrook have a pool on their premises, leading to a 50-minute round-trip bus ride to practice for Buchanan and Chanez.

"Our school does everything it can, there's just not that many pools in the western suburbs," Ziemke said. "If you don't have one it's hard to find something that works."

They found a park district pool in Addison Trail, where after school they could use four narrow lanes for two hours. They lacked regulation starting blocks, so relay starts were tough to practice.

Then there's that 16-person jacuzzi.

"We're going about 6,500, 7,000 yards a day, they're just coughing up a lung by the end of practice," Ziemke said.

"My eyes will start watering because the air is no good," Buchanan said.

Something good obviously is happening, though. Buchanan said there were 10 swimmers on the team his freshman year, and this year there were 40.

"As much as we want to have a pool, not having a pool makes our kids toughen up a bit and ensures that the kids who are on our team definitely want to be there," Ziemke said.

That's good because chlorine or not a precedent's been set.

"There's no excuses ever again," Ziemke said.

Hold your fire

In a letter circulated to members of the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association by ITCCCA treasurer/secretary Tom Todd, a physics teacher at Wheaton Warrenville South, he stated the National Federation of High Schools has banned race starters from using fully functional firearms.

Runners will now be started by a 300-volt shock delivered by metal plates installed under the track.

Just kidding.

Live ammo has pretty much gone the way of the dodo as starters have switched to black powder blanks in plugged guns. Increasingly, electronic devices are rigged to timing systems.

The point of the game

What made Naperville Central's Drew Crawford happier than breaking the Redhawks career scoring record of 1,466 points?

Seeing someone else score 2.

That is, if that someone is Tyler Nowak, a special-needs student who serves as Naperville Central's student manager.

With about 15 seconds left in Naperville Central's 59-49 victory over Wheaton North on Feb. 25, Redhawks coach Pete Kramer had Nowak take the court, with the understanding of Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos. The Falcons players parted and No. 5 took the ball to the basket.

"At that moment it's not about the win or loss," Nazos said. "It was just the right thing to do."

Nowak's first shot missed as time wound down. After an official demanded to stop the clock, Nowak put the ball back up and in.

"Obviously the official wanted Tyler to make it too," said Naperville Central floor announcer Andy Nussbaum.

It recalled Feb. 20, 2008, when former Wheaton North manager and Special Olympics basketball player Ryan Stolarz took a shot against Naperville Central late in the last game of the regular season.

"It was kind of a neat thing," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer, a neighbor of Nowak's. "The tears were rolling. You don't ever forget that."

It was a night to remember for Crawford, setting his school scoring record while Naperville Central went 14-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference, the first time that's happened in 15 years.

But afterward he talked about Nowak.

"That made me ridiculously happy," Crawford said. "For me that's a bigger moment in the game than breaking the record."

doberhelman@dailyherald.com