Waves of Triumph: Boys' Swimming

by Melanie Schaefer

Right off the bat the boys’ swim team will be facing a challenge that they have little control over: their small numbers. Only nineteen boys will be participating on the Platteville/Lancaster boys’ swim program this year. Seventeen are returning swimmers while Zach Brunette (‘18) and Ben Gaylord (‘15) are both new to the team.

The struggle will come in trying to fill a lineup. With so few resources, most of the varsity reserve swimmers will be moved up to swim varsity events. With this added pressure, the boys will have to be on their “A game” at every single meet.

The team is coached by Matt Wunderlin, a Platteville native who is entering his second season as the boys’ head coach. Coach Wunderlin has also been the the assistant coach for the girls’ swim team. Last year he coached five boys onto the state championships in five events.

Last year the team finished as the conference runner-up behind Badger, a Division One team. A few of this season’s returning swimmers finished their last season at the State Championship meet. Those Platteville swimmers included Sam Iselin (‘15) in two relays and the 100 butterfly and his brother Dan Iselin (‘17) as an alternate.

Leading the team as captains this year are Sam Iselin and Ben Smith (Lancaster). Smith also qualified for the state meet, which means the captains are both veterans in pursuit of the highest level of competition. In addition, this will be the fourth and final season for four swimmers.

The boys competed at the Conference Relay meet on December 4th in Whitewater. Only eleven were able to compete due to an overlap with the musical performance that night. Although disappointed that they were not able to have the full team, Coach Wunderlin expressed excitement that they would be going into the dual conference meet season as the underdog. The team’s next home meet will be on January 15th against Dubuque Hempstead.