Sims, Honsa continue pursuit of distance excellence

Burke Sims of Downers Grove North and Bryant Honsa of Lake Park should be among the contenders for the championship in the 500-yard freestyle at the boys swimming state meet next month.

At Benet, meanwhile, Dave Vandendorpe is helping carry on a proud tradition through rebuilding year for the Redwings.

Here's a closer look at each swimmer:

Burke Sims, Downers Grove North: Sims, who finished fourth in the 500 and ninth in he 200 freestyle last year, is mostly concerned about improving his time this year.

"My times are the main thing for me," said Sims. "Everything flows from that."

To improve his time, Sims is working with a new club coach to concentrate on his technique. He's also setting higher weekly goals in the weight room and he's keeping a workout log to track his progress.

"This year, I'm shooting for an Olympic Trials cut, so I hope to be out in Omaha next summer," Sims said. "I would love to make the Olympic team."

Sims' father, Dave, qualified for the 1980 Olympics before starting his college career at Stanford, but didn't get to participate because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games.

Downers Grove North coach Tom Redig, who competed against Dave Sims, thinks Burke may even have greater potential than his father.

"Burke is much stronger and faster in the short races," Redig said. "There's no question about his God-given talent. And he gets the most out of his talent. He's great in meets, but you should see him in the water in practice, and in the weight room. He's such a great example for the rest of the team. He has lofty time goals for the state meet, and he's right on track for them."

Bryant Honsa, Lake Park: Honsa's disappointment in 2007 is serving as a motivating factor for him this year. Honsa did not score a the state meet in the 500 last year but swam even though he was suffering from walking pneumonia.

This season he's determined to show what he can accomplish when healthy.

"After a good sectional meet, I didn't perform as well as I'd hoped at state," said Honsa, who was so sick that he missed a week of school after the state meet. "I went into the state meet last year seeded fourth and fifth in my events and finished in the teens in both. I want to be really good a state and I would like to think that I have as good a chance as anyone else."

Lake Park coach Dan Witteveen believes that Honsa has an outside chance to win the 200 freestyle as well.

"He trains out of his mind," said Witteveen. "I've never had a kid who trains like him. He's an all-around swimmer and he's doing really well at everything. He broke pool records in the 500 free and in the 200 IM, an off-event for him, at the Buffalo Grove Invite. Besides the distance freestyle races, he's also highly ranked in the 100 butterfly."

Witteveen believes that Honsa's illness at state has put him under the radar this year.

"People don't realize how sick he really was last year," Witteveen said. "Because he didn't score, there's a tendency to take him lightly. But he's up there with the best of them. He will also anchor our 200 freestyle relay, which has a chance to score at state."

Dave Vandendorpe, Benet: This has been something of a transition year for the Benet boys' swim team, following the team's strong showing in 2007.

The Redwings finished 13th at state, its first time in the top-twenty since the early 90s, as Nick Garvy finished third in the 100 butterfly and fourth in the 200 IM, while Colin Binnig was eighth in the 500 free and eleventh in the 200 free.

Both have graduated along with team leaders Jeff Trauner and Nick Severyn.

But senior Dave Vandendorpe, who was a member of the 400 freestyle relay team that finished 12th, has taken personal responsibility for passing the winning attitude to the younger swimmers in the Redwings' program.

"The guys returning from last year's state team are trying to pick up for our graduated seniors," said Vandendorpe. "We're keeping the team together to build on our tradition.

"I'm also working toward my own personal goals which are to qualify in the 100 fly and maybe in the 200 free, and to help us get two relays to state."

"We really needed a guy to take the reins in the pressure situations and Dave has been the man," said Benet coach Mike Rigali, who is especially impressed with how Vandendorpe has anchored the 400 freestyle relay. "He's really setting an example of what you can do as a team leader and as a great swimmer."

In the 400 free relay at a recent dual meet against St. Patrick, Vandendorpe dove into the water at least three body lengths behind the leader, and made up the distance to touch him out at the end.

"He's been incredible," said Rigali. "Dave's a lot like Nick Garvy because he's a great closer, a guy we can go to in the clutch. He knows how to win."

Vandendorpe is an outstanding student who will be attending the University of Chicago next year to prepare for a career as a pediatrician.

Rigali said that his senior captain's intelligence is obvious in the way he approaches his swimming.

"He's very meticulous in the little details," said Rigali. "He asks for advice on how he can make adjustments and tweak his swims. And then he goes out and he makes those improvements immediately."