CLAREMONT — Never mind that more of the Claremont Tiger Sharks were racing the clock more than they were pursuing opponents from the visiting Peterborough (N.H.) Wave Swim Club.
During their first meet after more than a year of swimming amongst themselves, with social distancing, Aubree Herzog and her teammates were backstroking, butterflying and freestyling with the energy and urgency of Olympians on the night of July 21.
“It was really exciting,” the 14-year-old Herzog recalled the next morning. “It was nice to be back competing again. And I dropped my (personal-best) time, which was really surprising. As a team, everyone improved.”
That last part was music to the ears of Tiger Sharks coaches Julie and Alton Martin, who had wondered, in the darkest days, whether the program would survive the pandemic.
“They canceled all summer competitions with other clubs completely last year,” Alton Martin remembered. “And when we practiced and competed among ourselves, everybody had to be in their own lane, no sharing.”
Many of the veterans took the separation from teammates harder than they did the lack of competition.
“It was weird not sharing a lane with someone,” Herzog said. “Usually when I share a lane, I’m able to socialize more.”
Yet the team persevered last winter through what Alton Martin described as “stringent” precautions. “Kids couldn’t come in earlier to get extra practice. They had to wear masks until they got into their lanes. For a little while, we were trying to start them on opposite ends to add to the safety. Now, there’s no real limit, other than that the pool closes for a little bit between sessions so they can clean.”
It also helps to have veteran swimmers like Herzog around to mentor the younger newcomers.
“It’s like a little community,” Aubree’s mother, Shawn Herzog, said. Before last month’s competition, Shawn Herzog said, she reminded her daughter “it was some kids’ first meet and she made a point of helping them out. That part has been just as important, maybe more, than the competition and the prizes. It really teaches them discipline, leadership and lots of other life skills.”
That’s part of what attracted Alton Martin to the Tiger Sharks, and to the sport, while he was growing up in Claremont, just down the street from the CSB Community Center pool, in the 1980s.
“Swimming is different from all your other sports,” he said. “You can put in as little effort or as much as you want, and you’re not affecting others. That kind of brings out a different kind of kid. You’ve got to have a different mindset to be a good swimmer, a fast swimmer. It takes a lot more self-motivation. What you put in is what you get out.”
Martin got so much out of his days as a Tiger Shark that it seemed natural first to encourage his and Julie’s two kids to join the club, then to volunteer as assistant coaches, before agreeing to taking charge of the program — Julie mostly as the administrator and parent-whisperer, Alton as the guy in and around the pool.
Together, the couple oversees, herds and comforts seven girls and four boys, ranging in age from 8 to 15.
“Some of them are a little stressed out,” Julie Martin admitted the day of the first post-lockdown meet. “They’re putting serious pressure on themselves.”
Not to worry, one of the elder Sharks reminded them.
“We emphasized how much work they did so that they could improve at something they really want to improve in. This was where they would (be with) the result of all that work. It’s always trying to improve what you did last.”