Bulldogs continue their winning swimming ways

SALT LAKE CITY — Capitalizing on their state championship last year, the Judge Memorial Catholic High School girls swim team had another strong regular season this year, culminating in the Region 10 Championship, which they won Jan. 20.

The boys team, which has fewer swimmers, finished third.

"There’s no magic to it; it’s just good old-fashioned hard work," said Bulldogs swim coach Matt Finnigan, adding that the team tries "to get the most out of each other, both in and out of the pool."

As a coach, he applies life lessons to swimming, he said. For example, his daughter suffers from a mitochondrial disease, so by comparison, when a swimmer feels his or her stroke wasn’t good during practice, "in the big picture that’s not really a big deal and they can get through it," Finnigan said. "It’s teaching them the ups and downs that go on in life."

Most of the team members came to the sport only when they entered high school. "We have athletes, we don’t have a lot of swimmers, but by their junior year they are swimmers," he said. "It’s the reality of high school swimming in Utah."

Among the standouts on the girls team are freshmen Alandra McDowell and Allison Witte and sophomore Amelia Wolfgramm, he said. On the boys side, there is team captain Seamus Appel, Dillon Beckett and Parker Beckett, he said. All three are seniors.

The Beckett twins, who swim butterfly and the individual medley, are "a perfect example of kids who had no prior swimming experience until they got to Judge," Finnigan said, "but they were so athletic from other sports like lacrosse that we just tapped into that athleticism and they’re just monsters now."

John Barnett, a senior who swims freestyle, joined the team after moving to Utah from Louisiana. Unlike many of his team mates, "I’ve swum during the summers my whole life," he said, adding that what makes the Bulldog team good is "We just have a lot of heart. We come out to practice and we give it our all, and it shows in the meets."

Finnigan’s lessons also help, said Jason Motley, a team captain. Motley, a junior, swims freestyle and backstroke.

"We don’t really care about times, we just try to swim fast at meets," he said. "When you don’t think, you tend to perform really well, and if you think too hard, you don’t perform so well. When you perform well at meets you have fun and that’s where it all comes together and it’s worth it. You can slave away in a freezing cold pool all year and hate it and you have one good race and it’s all worth it."

The team is just like a family, said Allison Witte, a freshman who swims butterfly and in the medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. "You’re working toward making your team proud of you. It’s a lot different than club swimming where you just care about yourself. We definitely want everyone to get better, and they’re all genuinely happy when you do well."

Amelia Wolfgramm, who last year as a freshman earned two individual state titles and helped set a 3A state record in the 400-relay team, agrees that the Bulldogs are like a family, with everyone looking out for each other and supporting each other.

"Swimming is so different from other sports," Wolfgramm said, because the season is five months long, and they practice six days a week. "We’re practically like brothers and sisters. If one of us doesn’t do well we all gather together and we help that person get better at what they want to be in."