GI swim team hopes to regain title

by Eric Keppeler
Grand Island Dispatch, December 15, 2006

After a year without a share of the Niagara Frontier League crown, Grand Island varsity swim coach Rob Collard thinks his Vikings are poised to make a run at regaining their perch at the top of the standings.

Grand Island went 13-1 two years ago and split the NFL title with the Lockport Lions. Last year, the Vikes dropped to 5-8-1 and tied for fifth, but Collard says that his team has enough talent and versatility to climb the standings.

“When you race in the NFL, you have to be able to win more than one or two events,” Collard said. “We have a lot of flexibility on where we can put people, and I think we can create matchup problems for some of the other teams in the league. It’s like a chess match.”

Any discussion of the Vikings swim team has to start with senior diver Ian O’Rourke. He’s already a three-time All-America selection, and his numbers were good enough to qualify when he was in seventh and eighth grade, as well, but middle schoolers aren’t eligible for consideration.

O’Rourke has won four straight NFL diving titles, three consecutive Section VI titles, two state crowns, and last year, he added a Federation title to his resume. He’s drawing plenty of attention from colleges, although he hasn’t yet committed to one.

“He’s amazing,” Collard said of O’Rourke. “And he can still be even better.”

The Vikings also have a solid group of veteran seniors that can compete in a number of different events, giving Collard that flexibility that is so important.

Jordan Stickl has been in the program since seventh grade and he does a little bit of everything, including sprints, butterfly, backstroke and distance. Ryan Benninger also is a six-year varsity swimmer, and he specializes in the breaststroke and sprints. Adam Bakula does distance races and the individual medley, while Paul Holler can handle sprints, the backstroke and a bit of IM.

“All of these guys can swim all over,” Collard said. “We can keep the other teams guessing because you never know who’s going to swim an event until right before it starts.”

Collard also has a good group of younger swimmers that also fit the versatility mold.

Junior James Sica is back for his third year with the program, and Collard says he’s a four-stroke swimmer. The coach is also looking for a breakout season from junior Josh Kaplan, who can do distance, backstroke, butterfly and IM. Sophomore Zach Adams is another four-stroke swimmer, particularly effective in distance. Junior diver Dave Benko is often overshadowed by O’Rourke, but he scores a lot of valuable points for the Vikings in league meets.

There’s also senior James Rayhill, a football and lacrosse standout who took up swimming just last year to keep in shape during the off-season. He does sprints and backstroke, but Collard says his presence and leadership also are invaluable.

“We have some guys with aspirations of going to states,” Collard said. “For now, we’ll just try to be successful in the NFL and see how it goes from there.”