It’s no secret that Saint Ignatius High School’s athletic teams feature many elite athletes. What is not so widely known is just how exceptional some of the swimmers who wear the blue and gold are. Coach Jeff Ridler’s swim squad is led by four upperclassmen who have each earned All-American status multiple times. Meet senior co-captains Derek Hren (a 6-time All-American entering this season) and Charlie Pophal (3-time All-American), as well as juniors Nathan Christian (5-time All-American) and Peter Simcox (4-time All-American). All-Americans, named after each season, are the country’s top one hundred swimmers in an individual or relay event.
These All-Americans also made names for themselves at last year’s State Meet in several events. Derek Hren, a North Carolina State recruit, placed second in both the 200 yard individual medley and 100 yard breastroke. Simcox was 11th in the 100 yard butterfly, while Christian and Pophal finished 2nd and 15th, respectively, in the 50 yard freestyle race. Hren, Pophal, Christian, and Simcox also combined on three formidable teams: the 200 yard free relay, 400 yard free relay, and 200 yard medley relay, that each finished in the top six at last year’s State Meet. This season pool and meet-records have been a common theme for these four this season. The swimmers set four meet records at the Northeast Classic in Akron and several pool records at Strongsville. At the Cleveland State Sectional this past weekend, these four swimmers set meet records in both the 200 meter freestyle relay and 200 meter medley relay. Hren’s 100 meter breastroke time was also a meet record.
All of these accolades are preceded by months of grueling practices. As Peter Simcox put it, “It [being an All-American] pays off for all the hard work I’ve done, so knowing that I’m being awarded for the countless hours I’ve put in is something awesome… If you’re an All-American it shows that you’ve worked extremely hard to get to that spot, and it just means a lot.” Swimmers, most of whom are in the pool year round, have over 20 hours each week of practices and lifting sessions, not to mention meets that can last all day. Derek Hren emphasized, “Most people think we don’t lift or they don’t know how many yards we do in water. Some people do think it is a rough schedule for us, but most think it’s easy, as if we just float around and stuff, but we do work!”
“It is tough and the training is lots of work, but I’d say when you’re finished you’re going to miss it mostly because of all these hours we rack up doing this and seeing the results. That’s the one thing about swimming, that if you put in the work you’ll see the results,” said Pophal. “There are a lot of hard workers on this team.”
Of course, having four elite swimmers on one team is a huge benefit in practice as well, creating an abundance of competition and mutual respect. “It’s an honor to be swimming with those guys and they help push me to my limits all the time, every practice,” said Simcox. “They’re great guys. They’re my closest friends… They’re hard-working, smart, funny guys.”
As Hren described it, “It’s pretty special to have those three guys in the pool next to me. We have a good time competing with each other and we all make ourselves stronger through one another. We have fun and joke around with everyone even though practice gets pretty rough at times”
“Added Pophal, it’s extremely challenging and a lot of long hours, but I would say it’s definitely worth it because you can bond with these kids. These kids will be your best friends for the rest of your life, mostly because you’ve kind of been through hell and back with them.”
The Wildcats will continue their postseason this weekend in the District Meet at Bowling Green State University. If all goes well, all of the hard work will result in more memorable performances at the 2013 State Meet in Canton.
