Battle Ground-Prairie co-op boys swimming team grows in 2nd year

Sailing, fishing and kayaking headline Zach Wannamaker’s water-sport hobbies, yet when the Prairie High School junior first dipped into the Clark County Family YMCA pool as a member of Battle Ground and Prairie’s co-op boys swimming program last winter, the water, suddenly, was foreign.

Wannamaker didn’t know how to swim.

“I had never taken swimming lessons before,” he said.

That was that first day of practice, long before his three district-qualifying times this season in the 200,100 and 50 freestyles and long after learning how-tos on correct entry dives and strokes.

Foreign, no more.

“I turned my love for water into a new sport,” Wannamaker said.

Now in Year Two as a co-op program, where the swimmers practice together but compete separately as their respective schools, the Battle Ground and Prairie boys swimming numbers continue to grow under coach Dan Kirkland, a career U.S. Air Force officer and retired commercial airline pilot. The girls program completed their second season in the fall.

Most of 23 swimmers under Kirkland — 17 from Battle Ground, six from Prairie, a program increase of a dozen swimmers from last winter — have zero club swimming experience, so Kirkland’s goal is elementary: see consistent progress from every swimmer while advancing as many swimmers to the 4A and 3A District meet as possible. Wednesday’s subdistrict meet at Propstra Aquatic Center are swimmers’ last chance to qualify for the 4A and 3A District Championships Feb. 10-11 at Kelso High’s Gaither Pool

At this stage in the program’s infancy, his swimmers reaching districts — not just subdistricts – is important, Kirkland said.

“Experience is what I want,” he added.

Kirkland also is the BG and Prairie girls’ co-op coach and a U.S. master-level swimmer. He calls it “equally gratifying” watching swimmers’ progress, regardless of experience level and there were plenty during the teams’ final regular-season dual last Wednesday hosting Camas and Hockinson at Clark County Family YMCA.

Said Kirkland: “All I ask them to do is improve every time.”

That improvement is what Battle Ground junior and team captain Sam Anderson has seen all season from his teammates. A club swimmer since age 8 and a member of the Vancouver-based Tornadoes Swim Team, he joined the high school team as a good change of pace that broke up his club-only swimming routine.

What excites him about coming to practice daily is the team environment, he said. “Everyone is excited to hop into the pool and swim,” Anderson said.

It wasn’t that long ago — three years, in fact –when swimmers like Jaron Hamlik, The Columbian’s two-time All-Region boys swimmer of the year was a one-man team at Prairie. He, and swimmers from four other schools — Battle Ground, Hockinson, Washougal and Woodland — practiced and competed alongside Camas’ team to make-up one large squad known as North County. Once postseason arrived, the athletes split and represented their school to try to qualify for state.

While all swimmers were welcome, the mega-team, plus early-morning practices and long car rides daily to LaCamas Swim and Sport Club had Andy Schoonover, Prairie’s athletic director from 2013-’16, spending the first year-and-a-half of his administration searching for more viable options for his swimmers.

Finding a nearby facility was the first priority, and the timing was perfect landing Clark County Family YMCA.

In April 2014, the facility completed an $8 million renovation, which included construction of a six-lane lap pool.

“They created space for us,” said Schoonover, now an assistant principal at Battle Ground’s Pleasant Valley Middle School.

Battle Ground and Prairie rent three lanes, a cost paid by the school district. Hockinson also uses the facility at a different time slot, and as recently as 2013, the Hawks won the 2A District 4 team title as members of the North County co-op.

As a second-year co-op, the Battle Ground and Prairie camaraderie is one of a kind, Wannamaker said, and he’s already hunting the halls for the team’s next crop of swimmers.

“We all help each other out and are great friends,” he said. “… my goal is to recruit really hard to get more kids.”