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Sports

Plymouth-Canton Swim Club Makes Huge Splash in State Finals

The Cruisers won the 12-and-under age category and placed fourth in the 13-and-over level.

The Plymouth-Canton Cruisers swim club made a huge splash in the state swimming championships in March.

The Cruisers—a USA Swimming- and Michigan Swimming-affiliated club—took first in the state championships in the 12-and-under age group and placed fourth in the 13-and-over category.

Among the club’s team accomplishments were several individual wins as well, including the state 5o-meter breaststroke record that was broken by 12-year-old Linda Zhang.

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“It was an incredibly eye-opening experience,” said Cruisers head coach Josh Morgan, who took over the team a year ago, along with his wife, Alexandra.

The pair work among a staff of seven coaches preparing kids ages 6 through high school for monthly swim meets that take place throughout the year.

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The year is divided into two seasons: the short-course (25-yard pools), which takes place September through April, and the long-course (50-meter Olympic pools) that runs through the summer.

Between meets, the team can be found at the Canton and Salem high schools pools, working on strength and conditioning.

“One of our goals is to establish good relationships with the high school teams,” said Morgan of the loose affiliation the club has with Plymouth, Canton and Salem high schools.

The club has numerous swimmers from each school on its team and strives to improve the programs of each school through its strong mentorship.

“We really strive to help them raise their levels of competitiveness and to raise ours, as well.”

Toward that goal, Morgan and his wife have focused on improving the competitiveness of the elementary and middle school-age kids in the hopes that, as they approach high school, they will be that much stronger.

“As everyone filters up, it should raise the levels of the high school teams,” he said.

Morgan said the younger kids swim the equivalent of four miles each day, working on strength and technique. He said the focus is on becoming efficient and getting to a point where energy and effort expended is never wasted.

When the swimmers reach high school age, he said, they really see the heat cranked up.

“We expect at that point that the work they put into their swimming is focused on goal achievement, strength training and race planning,” he said.

Typical of practices at this level is for the swimmers to work on swimming laps with a minimal number of strokes per lap, which Morgan said is geared toward getting them to perform “faster and faster” with less, more focused effort.

It can be tough, he said, because the Cruisers swim season often overlaps with the high school one, which has its girls swimming in the fall and the boys in the winter.

But, he said, they strive to make it work, encouraging the kids to balance schoolwork, other sporting endeavors and their swimming schedules.

"I've been doing this for a while, so it just takes practice to manage your time," said Catie Irwin, a senior at Canton High School.

She said that often her days run long due to schoolwork, but that she loves the sport so much it's worth the effort. "With school, some nights can be late, but that's the price you pay for being dedicated to a sport that demands so much of your time."

For Irwin, the decision is an easy one; she plans to continue swimming beyond high school—she's going on to Grand Valley State University in the fall—and needs to continue improving.

But for some others, swimming can be just an activity to keep them in shape. Often, schoolwork conflicts with swim schedules, and the kids have to make a choice.

Morgan said he makes all of his kids aware that school grades are not something that can be sacrificed and that schoolwork has to take precedence.

When it comes down to making the choice between the two, sophomore Jason Zhang—older brother of Linda Zhang—said he always puts school first.

"I try to do my homework first," he said. "I think schoolwork is more important than swimming. If I have too much work to do, I just skip swim practice."

He said that when he has to skip an afternoon practice, he always has the option to swim in the mornings before school. Morning practices begin at 5:30 a.m., he said, which is not something he really enjoys.

For him, swimming is just a hobby, unlike his sisters (his other sister, Lisa, also swims for the club). And because he doesn't plan to pursue it after high school, he intends to keep his studies a top priority.

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