Warsaw Ready To Rise Again
WARSAW – It will be a final go-round for several accomplished Warsaw boys swimming seniors, but there won’t be any sentimental victory lap for the Tigers in what should be a very exciting season.
Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera may have got their farewell tours with the New York Yankees, adorned with gifts at each stop as well as Gatorade and Nike commercials bidding them a well-deserved adieu. Warsaw has quite a senior duo on their final run in Jayden Parrett and Spencer Davidson as the two have built quite a career. Both swimmers have won multiple sectional titles – Parrett as a freestyler and backstroker and Davidson as a butterflier and backstroker. The duo have also teamed to help a handful of relays to sectional titles as Warsaw has lined up seven straight sectional team trophies in the case.
Neither swimmer, however, has cracked the top eight in any event at the state level, and surely will be high priority on the goal list.
“Going down to IUPUI, there is a lot of pressure at a state finals, and you are seeing the best,” stated Warsaw head coach Anthony DeBrota. “That’s a big pool and you are dealing with the likes of Chesterton and the Indianapolis schools who are going to Big Ten colleges making names for themselves. I think Jayden and Spencer can swim with them, but we are needing to get some of the young guys up there believing they can compete, too.”
Warsaw, however, will be a sum of its parts and not just a two-man show. Sights have also been set to try to catch perennial powerhouse Northridge in Northern Lakes Conference matters, the Raiders holders of over a dozen straight conference titles, handing Warsaw it’s only NLC loss last season.
The Warsaw senior class is nine names deep to start the season and includes the very talented Josh Miller, who along with Davidson, Parrett and Ethan Cook, broke the sectional 400 free relay record last February. Cook and Matt Wildman will anchor a solid junior class, both with two years of elite varsity experience.
“We feel pretty good in most events having at least one swimmer who can compete, but we want two, or ideally, three guys who can score for us,” DeBrota said. “When we can get our younger guys to embrace working hard in practice, swimming more than the actual distance of an event, that’s when we’ll see those freshmen and sophomores take that step forward.”
Sophomore Hudson Snyder will be one of the young guns to watch as the season progresses after a big freshman year.
DeBrota takes over for departed coach Nate Long in his first head coaching gig after serving as an assistant with Warsaw a year ago. DeBrota swam collegiately at Ball State University.
Elsewhere in the Northern Lakes Conference, Wawasee will put its young roster to the test in what should be a very deep conference slate.
Junior Logan Brugh should lead the pack in the pool but will likely have freshman Brady Robinson join the headlines as the season progresses. Brugh is the school-record holder in the 500 freestyle while Robinson joins the high school ranks after successful club stints and follows the lineage of two Division 1 college swim sisters in Breanna and Brittany Robinson.
Coach Julie Robinson noted senior Danny Allen and freshman Spencer Naugler are also poised to have big seasons, Allen having made big strides in the backstroke while Naugler is a versatile swimmer who could end up swimming several events before the year is through.
Tippecanoe Valley was decimated by graduation, losing all of its sectional swim experience. Head coach Buddy Busby’s team starts with just eight on the roster and nary a senior in the bunch. Not one of the current swimmers swam an event at last year’s Warsaw Boys Swim Sectional.