St. Charles East's Van Gyseghem both a coach and a recruiter

Despite the many times he'd heard people tell him they thought he might be a good swimmer, Matt Van Gyseghem had his own athletic pathway figured out.

The St. Charles East sophomore played baseball and liked it. Aquatic sports were just something he did recreationally.

Then he heard what Saints coach Joe Cabel had to say one day in gym class.

"When we were done, he just said 'Matt, you should be swimming.' He was pretty blunt, but it was good to hear that from a coach's standpoint, that he felt I could be successful at this."

Based on that mid-November encounter, Van Gyseghem decided to give swimming a try. Three months later, he's still on the team and is preparing for his first Upstate Eight Conference meet. Most conference meets take place this weekend, two weeks before the sectional meet kicks off the state postseason.

He's not alone either. Cabel has plucked athletes such as Jon Belsheim, Pat Townsend, Ryan Shannon and Ryan O'Reilly from the school's gym class ranks to take spots on the Saints swim team.

"Of our PE swimmers and divers, this is our most talented group," Cabel said. "In our best years, we might get one or two who come and are successful. But we have a good solid six kids who came out and who have made great strides."

Matt Hines is aware of how well Cabel can be as a gym class recruiter. A sophomore, Hines was plucked from the PE ranks a year ago.

"My mom swam when she was in school and I sort of thought I might be swimming in high school," Hines said. "Mr. Cabel, it's like if you're good, he doesn't want to waste the talent."

Hines is also a multisport athlete. He runs track and cross country for the school, and uses swimming partly for cross training. But he's getting successful in his own right in the water.

"We all want to find our niche," Cabel said. "We wander sometimes before we find it. When we find it and are accepted and feel needed, it becomes a big confidence booster. It becomes a good thing for everybody involved."

Van Gyseghem said just hearing Cabel's "Matt you should be swimming" was something special in itself.

"It makes you feel a lot better," he said. "Teenagers can be self-conscious. When a teacher says 'you can do this,' it's very motivating."

Van Gyseghem had heard many times from his parents that swimming was a sport he should try when he reached high school. And he always brushed off the suggestion.

"I was stubborn," he said. "But I started to get tired of my parents bugging me. And I thought that maybe instead of it being me being stubborn, what if it was really me being stupid?"

Cabel admits his approach can be straightforward. But he also says that he doesn't exercise his swimming sales pitch to everyone he sees in the water.

"I'm very conscious not to overstep anyone's bounds," Cabel said. "I check to make sure they're not in another sport. But because I've done this for so long, I can see a natural swimmer a mile away. If they're not involved in something, I know they can be successful in this and I let them know they can be pretty good."

Once on the team, however, former PE students find that the stories about how hard swimmers train aren't just fables.

"Oh it's definitely a commitment," Van Gyseghem said. "Waking up that early in the morning before practice, it's not really easy to do. The first two weeks were the hardest for me. After that, my body adjusted and I got into it. It came really easily to me for reasons I don't know."

Cabel said swimmers end up returning to gym class with a newfound look at what's really hard and what's not in terms of training.

"You go from gym class, where you do a 20-lap final and everyone thinks it's the end of the world," Hines said. "And then you get on the swim team and you have a 40-lap warmup. But after about two weeks, the soreness goes away and it's OK."

Not every swimmer comes from gym class. There always have been and always will be athletes who have been in the water for years before entering high school, and teams rely on those athletes to help the team see success.

Those athletes with experience are needed in another way. When new swimmers who have never been on a competitive team face challenges, those athletes with experience have an instant chance to provide team unity through leadership.

"They'll help you out and tell you from experience what you should do," Van Gyseghem said. "They'll help you out as much as they can. It's a nice mix."

Hines found that having older athletes on the team had other side benefits a year ago as he got acquainted with the surroundings at St. Charles East.

"Swimming is great," Hines said. "But what's really fun is when you get to talk with everybody after practice. It's the friendships you make. As a freshman, I think I had a better experience than if I hadn't been on the team because I met a lot of upperclassmen by being on the team."

Hines and Van Gyseghem are both tapering for this weekend's conference meet, which takes place at crosstown rival St. Charles North. They both say they are in the sport to stay.

"The one day we have off is Sunday, and I still invariably end up back in the water at the pool with my little brother," Van Gyseghem said. "My parents reminded me that I'm not quitting this now that I've started. I will continue to do it and hope to get as good at it as I can."

Hines will join the school's indoor track team shortly after the conference swim meet.

"Everyone gets excited because you know the last meet is coming up," Hines said. "For me personally, I'm kind of regretting the end of the season."