State medalists Lucas Brandt and Cameron McLennan for the boys and qualifier Kyah Weeber for the girls highlight the list of returning athletes on this season’s Philomath High School swim teams.
Brandt had an exceptional freshman season in 2023-24 by placing third in the 500-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley at the 4A/3A/2A/1A meet in Beaverton.
“He’s been a year-round swimmer since he was a small child,” PHS coach Illiana Kaiser said. “This year, he has his eye on a couple (of events) — I’m not sure which ones he wants to do for sure. He does everything; he does more of the longer distances in club (swimming).”
Brandt already has his name in the PHS record books with a time of 2:03.39 in the 200 IM last season — an event that combines the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
McLennan, now a junior, placed sixth in the 100-yard butterfly last February at state.
“He told me his goal is to swim all the events this year,” Kaiser said. “I’m excited to see him branch out because there’s 11 meets and sometimes doing the same event every time gets a little boring. You’re a better swimmer if you know everything.”
Speaking from experience when she competed, Kaiser believes in the athletes learning more than one stroke.
“I was good at a stroke because I was good at the other ones,” she said. “It translates … if you’re only one stroke, you can only be so good. But if you take elements from the other strokes, it helps you be a better swimmer — at least that’s my philosophy.”
Among the other returning swimmers, senior Emmitt Gaskey is showing promise.
“He started swimming club, I think during the summer and all during the fall, and I’m seeing the endurance already in him,” Kaiser said. “Last year, he took a little bit of time to warm up to doing the longer distances in practice and hit the water right away ready.”
Another senior, Alex Dye, also returns to the program. Dye is another athlete who has increased his skills through club swimming. Ethan Aynes is the third senior on the roster and in addition to McLennan, other juniors are Ike Avery, Blake Hauck, Evan Hernandez and Mason Stevens.
“We have a lot of new boys this year with freshmen, sophomores,” Kaiser said. “They are starting at the very bottom and already in a week, week and a half, two weeks, they have made so much progress.”
For the girls, Weeber qualified for state last season in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard butterfly with finishes of eighth and 11th, respectively. Kaiser said the breaststroke is her top event and an interesting dynamic now exists with her younger sister, freshman Alyssa Weeber, now on the roster.
Senior Kateri Pindell returns for a final go-round with the program and competes in the freestyle and breaststroke. Twins Brooke and Hanna McDaniel and Natalee Barton round out the group of five seniors on the squad. There are two juniors in Kathleen Donovan, who returns after a year off, and Ellie Dye.
Among the younger kids, incoming freshman Emmylou Cook caught the coach’s eye. Cook learned the sport through the Dolphins program, Kaiser said, and is just returning to the sport after being away from it for four years.
“She’s showing a lot of promise,” Kaiser said. “I think if not this year, next year she’ll have a really good standing on the team.”
In all, Philomath has 28 athletes in the program — 14 girls and 14 boys.
The Warriors also have two student managers this season in juniors Hollie Barton and Logan Cook.
“They didn’t want to swim but still wanted to be involved in the program,” Kaiser said. “It’s the first time for me to have student managers, which is so much fun. It’s going to make my life easier during swimming. I can actually fully pay attention and instead of getting splits and times and everything, I can have them do that and I can focus on technique.”
Kaiser begins her fourth year with the PHS swim team program and third as head coach. Ophelia Katsikis returns as an assistant.
Philomath opens the season at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday with an appearance in the home pool with Gladstone and Riverside. On Saturday, the Warriors head to the North Marion Invite. Other home dates this season include Dec. 13 vs. Crosshill Christian and Kennedy, Jan. 10 vs. Cascade and Kennedy, Jan. 15 vs. Marist Catholic and North Marion, and Jan. 22 vs. Blanchet Catholic, Kennedy and Sisters.
The district meet is scheduled for Feb. 14-15 at the Albany Community Pool at South Albany High. The state meet follows Feb. 21-22 at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.
