Terrors' 'most talented' makes splash

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Apr 3, 2003 | by JONATHAN MOHR

Strolling around the deck of the Palmer pool, wearing an oversize sombrero and rainbow-colored poncho, Ryan Warwick may not look like he takes swimming very seriously - and he doesn't.

At least when it comes to chasing records or leaving the competition in his wake.

Maybe that's what makes him so good.

With his performance Wednesday in his team's meet with Mitchell, a 118-64 Palmer victory, Warwick has qualified for the state swim meet in five events and is close to toppling two school records that have stood for 25 years.

But Warwick says he has found something more important than swimming.

"I don't really care about the numbers," Warwick said. "Last summer I got depressed, but I went to church and now I have Jesus in my life. And Jesus doesn't care what my times are."

Mitchell's boys team was a bit undermanned against Palmer, bringing less than 10 athletes to the event. So with the final result never really in doubt, several Terror swimmers were able to compete in races that were not necessarily their strongest disciplines, including Warwick.

The Palmer senior swam the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 backstroke, posting state-qualifying times in both. Warwick's IM time of 2 minutes, 8.78 seconds just clipped the 2:09.50 5A state- qualifying time. His 57.90 in the backstroke was well ahead of the 59.80 state mark.

And those are two of his lesser events. Warwick's specialty is freestyle. He's ranked fourth in state in the 200 and seventh in the 500.

Warwick's fastest time in the 200 is 1:46.98 and he has clocked the 500 in 4:57.29. Those results aren't far off the Palmer school records in those events, 1:45.40 (200) and 4:54.26 (500), that were set by Eric Jacobson in 1978.

"He's the most talented swimmer I've had in the four years I've been here," Palmer coach Goeff Lewis said. "He's got a really good chance to break the records."

Mitchell also had a state qualifier Tuesday. Diver Tommy Maez scored a 209.70, easily surpassing the 185 points necessary for qualification. He was not surprised by his success.

"I water my dives down during the meets, I work on my hard dives in practice," Maez said. "I've been working on a special one, but I want to keep it a secret until state."

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