Friendly Competition: Varsity swimmers’ club season coach becomes their opponent during the high school season

Senior and varsity swimmer Meg Gunderman lined up for one of her primaries — 100 backstroke — to swim against Blue Valley North, a team that happened to be coached by her off-season club coach.

Blue Valley North’s coach, Rob Cole, has known Gunderman since 2017 as her club coach. 

“I’ve been swimming with [Cole] for a really long time and I really like him,” Gunderman said. “He’s honestly one of my favorite coaches.”

East swim coach, Ian Hutchison, has known her for just as long. 

Hutchison and Cole coached local club swim teams together for 10 years. They met in 2000 when Hutchison was in high school and the manager of the girls swim team, and Cole was the East swim coach. As past-coworkers, they have an understanding of each other’s strategies and tendencies — even down to the reasoning behind the lineup for that particular meet.

“I know him really well,” Hutchison said. “So him and I went into [the Blue Valley North meet] knowing that we weren’t necessarily going to be swimming every single person in their fastest races.”

More than half of the swimmers on the East varsity team swim on the same club team during the off-season. Many of the girls have grown up swimming with each other and have named the team “Quad X.”

“Everyone’s super close and knows what goes on at club, but then also how high school works,” Gunderman said. “So it’s super fun.”

Now, an air of competitiveness surrounds swim meets against Blue Valley North. Hutchison and the East girls are determined to do their best against a coach they know well.

“Neither of us went into [the meet] to absolutely try to dominate,” Hutchison said. “It was more to be competitive and to make it a fun meet.”

Sophomore Mia Riscovallez appreciates Cole’s lightheartedness at her club practices with him because she knows he’s always there to support her and give her individualized advice. 

“He’s one of the most talented guys I know,” Riscovallez said. “He knows everything about everyone all the time. He’s a genius.”

Cole likes to think of off-season swim practice as a stress reliever and encourages the girls to come as much as possible. Even though they’ll be his opponents during the high school season, he still teaches them all he knows about improving endurance and distance swimming and enjoys getting to know the girls.

“If they have a smile on their face,” Cole said, “it means that I impacted them in a positive way.”