Different Strokes for Potomac

Jared Simmons is doing well after giving up wrestling to run indoor track full-time for Stonewall Jackson. (By L. William Kobelka For The Washington Post)

Coach Tommy Quimby is overseeing a young Potomac swim team that returned to varsity competition this season after a lengthy hiatus.

Participation in the sport declined six years ago, and Potomac had been without a swim team since then, Athletic Director Bill Stearns said. Now, Quimby and 35 enthusiastic swimmers have rejuvenated the program.

"It's been good," said Quimby, who swam and coached at both Woodbridge and James Madison University. "The kids are learning a lot. Obviously, since there hasn't been a team at Potomac, there hasn't been the experience for the kids in high school swimming. It's been a learning experience for the team. The kids have handled it well. Whatever I ask them to do, they do it."

Juniors Justine Moore and Beth Buckley, the co-captains of the girls' team, were among a group of students who approached Stearns and Quimby last school year about starting a team. After several meetings and some advertising by word of mouth, the team was formed.

The boys' team defeated Freedom this season for the only victory for either team.

This season isn't as much about winning, though, as it is about learning, Quimby said.

"All the kids want to learn all the strokes as best they can," he said. "They want to swim it legal, and they want to improve their times. Obviously, you want to win, but we haven't put a lot of effort on that because I want them to experience the meets first. I think [winning] will come in time."

What's Inside Counts

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Stonewall Jackson senior Jared Simmons is eager to get some recognition for his exploits on the track, and Raiders Coach Deon Taylor said he expects that to happen eventually.

"He's working like a horse, and he's really running well," Taylor said. "The plan is to surprise the Tidewater people -- we're aiming for states."

Simmons has already put up a couple of strong performances in the 300 meters, capped by a personal-best showing of 36.45 seconds at the Bishop Laughlin Games in New York on Dec. 17. Running indoors full-time for the first time -- a football player in the fall, Simmons also wrestled the past three winters -- Simmons is laying the foundation for a strong performance later in the season, Taylor said.

"At New York he ran the 300 without working on it, but he did very well," Taylor said. "We wanted to see where he was, and then base the training around that."

Meantime, Raiders senior Thelma Breezeatl is making an immediate impact in the sprints. She won the 55 at the GMU Invitational (7.3) and finished third in the 55 at Bishop Laughlin with a time of 7.2 seconds, among the top performances by a girl in the Washington area this season.