For the first time since at least 2009, the Pampa Harvesters are sending a swimmer to the state meet. Senior Archer Schroeder found out over this past weekend that he will be attending the State Meet on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Josh Davis Natatorium & Bill Walker Pool in San Antonio.
“I’ve wanted to go to State ever since I was a freshman,” Schroeder said. “So it’s a pretty big goal that I’ve achieved.
“I was very nervous waiting for the results, but it’s a pretty good feeling knowing that I’ve qualified. Now I’m just preparing for the next week and a half to get to State.”
Pampa swim coach Jeremiah Day, who will also be attending the State Meet for the first time, said it shows that hard work can lead to success.
“I think it really shows that with enough hard work, you can accomplish a lot,” Day said. “Archer was the first kid that I had that was in the program all four years under me. He has not known any other swim coaches.
“All of the kids we have had in previous years, if they have swum before, they had a previous coach and I inherited them. He’s been the best swimmer I’ve had and the first one from freshman to senior.”
That hard work was reflected in how Schroeder practiced to push himself not only at competitions, but also at practice.
“Every day at practice, I had to make sure I was pushing myself to be very uncomfortable,” Schroeder said. “The longer I was extremely uncomfortable, the faster I got.”
Day is hoping that Schroeder will be an example to his younger athletes to be patient and have perseverance.
“I think it opens their eyes to what’s possible,” Day said. “A lot of my athletes start swimming when they are freshmen. They don’t have any prior experience. So as freshmen they go to a swim meet, they get smoked, and they try to learn from it.
“They say, ‘What can I do to try and get better?’ The longer they stay in the program, the more coaching they get, the more practices they attend, and the better they get. I’m hoping that over the next few years, now that I’ve been here a while, I can make state an annual trip.”
Schroeder is looking forward to competing against the best.
“These are going to be the fastest kids in 4A and I get to go against them. I’m excited to get to go against them,” Schroeder said.
Swimming district competition is 4A and below, with Andrews (more than 20 boys and 20 girls), West Plains, Randall, Canyon, Lubbock-Estacado, Cooper-Liberty and others, making it even more impressive for Pampa to have a representative in San Antonio.
“Swimming is not a super-popular sport because of the facilities it requires,” Day said. “We are fortunate that the Pampa Youth and Community Center allows us free practices at their facility. A lot of programs that are more successful have a swimming pool attached to their school. We don’t have that, but we are able to make it work.”
Day also sees the State Meet as an opportunity to visit with other coaches and learn how other programs approach the sport.
“I’m looking forward to the experience,” Day said. “I’ve never been to the State Meet. Anytime I go to a meet, as a coach I try to steal ideas from other successful coaches.
“Some of them are not within my personality and desire, but I was not a competitive swimmer, so each year I’m learning. Each year I’m trying to figure out more and more ways to get the inexperienced kids to the stage where they are starting to get competitive.”
The State Meet is on Feb. 12 in San Antonio. We would like to wish Archer and Coach Day the best of luck and safe travels to the State Meet.