Burlington boys swim team enjoys rare Friday night under the pool lights

Friday nights are generally known for high school football.

In the winter, most Friday night calendars are filled with high school basketball games.

But boys high school swimming?

That's what the Burlington High School boys swimming team was treated to on Friday night at the BHS pool.

Under the warm lights in a nice, cozy pool, the Grayhounds made the most of it, coming away with an 81-75 victory over United Township.

It was the start of a busy weekend and a short turnaround for Burlington, which loaded the bus and headed for Davenport West bright and early Saturday morning.

The Grayhounds made sure this would be a Friday night they would remember.

"I don't mind it actually. It's pretty nice," junior William Klatt said.

"I've swam Friday nights before with club swim. It's a good way to start the weekend, I think," said John Cottrell, a junior at Fort Madison High School who swims for Burlington through a sharing agreement. "The 50 fly on the medley relay felt really good. That split was very good for where I'm at right now. The butterfly was also up to my standards. There's a couple things I can tweak on it. I biffed my second wall. The 50 free was good. I barely slipped under 23 seconds, which was nice. But I jammed my finger on the wall. The backstroke I kind of died on that one."

"It was a little unexpected because we normally don't swim Friday nights. We'll deal with it. (Saturday) is the relay meet. I asked the guys which one we could be aggressive with and which we could go easier on," said first-year BHS coach Jason Dixon, who spent the last six years coaching swimming at the Fort Madison YMCA. "They looked pretty good starting out for the season. There's things to look at and things to work on. But for the group of guys we've got, it's a promising start."

Burlington won all three relays, including the opening 200-yard medley. The team of Aiden Woodsmall, Will Davidson, Cottrell and freshman Byers Nealey put up a time of 1 minute, 49.87 seconds.

"I started off with the medley," said Davidson, who also won the 100 breaststroke. "The first three legs we have been swimming together three years now. We're pretty comfortable with that. We added Byers on for Nate last year. I think if we can get him down and we work on some things, that could be a team we take to state."

Cottrell won both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, as well as swimming the opening leg of the 200 freestyle relay.

Woodsmall won the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, while Nealey won the 50 freestyle.

But perhaps the highlight of the night came in the final event. After Woodsmall got the Grayhounds off to a good start in the 400 freestyle relay, David King's goggles fell off his head when he dove into the water for the second leg. King briefly stopped to put his goggles back on, allowing UTHS to take the lead.

But Klatt and Davidson showed why swimming is a team sport, bringing the Grayhounds back to victory in 4:52.67.

It was a perfect example of true teamwork.

"My swim cap fell off, but his goggles were falling off. When he dove in they flew off over his head," said Klatt, who set a new PR in the 50 freestyle. "We're just one big team. If one person is struggling, everyone else has to pull the slack and keep everyone together."

"Things happen," Davidson said. "His goggles fell off. Mine filled up with water. Those are some things you've got to learn to swim with when you are dealing with water, it's not the most comfortable thing. You have to be ready for everything."

"Overall for being the first-year coach, this is a nice group to start out with," Dixon said.

BHS 83, United Township 75

200-yard medley relay — 1. Burlington (Aiden Woodsmall, Will Davidson, John Cottrell, Byers Nealey), 1:49.87. 200-yard freestyle — 1. Woodsmall, 2:11.15. 200-yard individual medley — 1. Caleb Hergert (UTHS), 2:32.01; 2. Davidson, 2:51.15. 50-yard freestyle — 1. Nealey, 25.32; 2. William Klatt (BHS), 27.45; 4. Shaden Messamaker, 28.20. 100-yard butterfly — 1. Cottrell, 53.96. 100-yard freestyle — 1. Hergert, 56.84; 2. Nealey, 56.85; 3. Klatt, 1:06.88; 6. David King (BHS), 1:19.53. 500-yard freestyle — 1. Woodsmall, 5:47.17. 200-yard freestyle relay — 1. Burlington (Cottrell, Messmaker, Klatt, Nealey), 1:46.62. 100-yard backstroke — 1. Cottrell, 1:00.89; 3. King, 1:31.74. 100-yard breaststroke — 1. Davidson, 1:15.61; 3. Messamaker, 1:34.30. 400-yard freestyle relay — 1. Burlington (Woodsmall, King, Klatt, Davidson), 4:52.67.

Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington boys swim team enjoys rare Friday night under the pool lights