This Detroit Lakes boys swimming and diving team is a work in progress as it goes into each meet with a plethora of underclassmen and a smaller roster than other schools. However, new head coach Will Blasczyk believes his guys are headed in the right direction.
On Tuesday night, the Lakers dropped their home opener against Bemidji 96-73. While the fate of winning and losing was hardly in doubt, Blasczyk left the Detroit Lakes Community and Cultural Center with a lot of positives.
"Bemidji is pretty good. They have a strong team," Blasczyk said. "There were a few races that I was hoping we were going to win that they ended up winning. My guys came out hard tonight. I still have one guy out who had surgery before the season started. With a pretty small team, we are still doing some great things."
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Despite fewer swimmers on the team this year than in years past, one of the advantages Blasczyk sees in his guys is coachability. The willingness to get better and do what the team needs have made his first month at the helm a good one.
"This group is pretty versatile," Blasczyk said. "Zane Roberts swam the (500-yard freestyle) last week in Park Rapids, and Micah Barberg did it tonight. That's a gutsy race. Then we have John (Gulon) in the 100 backstroke, which is kind of his bread and butter. I think everybody was pretty impressive tonight. I saw a lot of great things."
Gulon won the only race of the night for Detroit Lakes in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.81 seconds, his lowest of the season so far. He was also swam in the 200-yard medley relay (2:06.05), 100-yard freestyle (53.33) and 400-yard freestyle relay (4:06.72) to second-place finishes.
In diving, Lucas Lundberg highlighted an all-Detroit Lakes top three with a score of 140.15. Neil Trowbridge (124.25) and Lane Yliniemi (115.55) took second and third.
Aside from Gulon and his progress to get to the state meet, the short-term goal for the Lakers is making steady improvements and getting comfortable in different races.
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"Improving is the biggest thing we're focused on right now because we have a small team," Blasczyk said. "It's not necessarily about winning and losing. For example, Micah Barberg cut off over 20 seconds on his 500 time from last year. That's the kind of thing we're looking for right now. We want each guy to go out there and look better than they did the last time."
"It's going to be tough to win certain meets because we don't have as many guys," Blasczyk said. "What I like about our teams is I feel comfortable putting guys in a lot of different races right now, and I like the work they're putting in. We have a lot of guys that will do whatever the team needs, and they'll try their hardest."
Having a smaller team isn't necessarily a bad thing. While wins will be hard to come by, the coaching staff can devote more time to each swimmer and diver.
"I feel like I'm able to give them a lot more individual attention," Blasczyk said on having a smaller turnout of swimmers. "When they're trying their best, we can fine-tune different things like their turns and each stroke. I feel like with a smaller group, I have a chance to give that kind of feedback better. They're also a tighter-knit group too with the older guys. They try to pass things down to the younger guys down the line."
Not only has Blasczyk had to learn what his group is made of, but also his foes around the section. The Lakers opened the season at Fergus Falls, where they took fourth among several teams in the Section 8A field. Last week, Detroit Lakes took on Park Rapids in its first 8A dual of the season.
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"I'm getting used to seeing all of the other programs we swim against," Blasczyk said. "We competed in Fergus Falls against a lot of section teams, and I liked where we fell. Our program was small when we took it over. Nobody really knew where we were going to stack up to the other teams. But I like where we're at. Now it's about taking that next step forward."
BEMIDJI 96, DETROIT LAKES 73
DETROIT LAKES TOP THREE FINISHES- 200Y MEDLEY RELAY- 2nd- Micah Barberg, Ryan Erickson, Luther Van Offelen, John Gulon 2:06.05; 3rd- Brayden Francis. Tony McLeod, Neil Trowbridge, Brian Morrison 2:45.25; 200Y FREE- 2nd- Barberg 2:25.74; 200Y IM- 3rd- Van Offelen 3:12.83; 50Y FREE- 3rd- Erickson 26.07; DIVING- 1st- Lucas Lundberg 140.15, 2nd- Trowbridge 124.25, 3rd- Lane Yliniemi 115.55; 100Y FLY- 2nd- Van Offelen 1:25.22; 100Y FREE- 2nd- Gulon 53.33; 500Y FREE- 2nd- Barberg 6:25.26; 200Y FREE RELAY- 2nd- Offelen, Francis, McLeod, Zane Roberts 2:04.56; 100Y BREAST- 2nd- Roberts 1:21.81; 100Y BACK- 1st- Gulon 58.81; 400Y FREE RELAY- 2nd- Gulon, Barberg, Erickson, Roberts 4:06.72
