Exchange student Gustavo Garcia shining in pool for Cheyenne South
Feb. 1—CHEYENNE — Gustavo Garcia was excited when he learned Cheyenne South had a boys swimming team.
He has grown up in the sport in his native Brazil, and leapt at the chance to represent the Bison in the pool during his year as an exchange student.
"I knew I was going to swim as soon as I found out they had a team," he said. "I like soccer, but I love swimming."
Brazil's men's national team has claimed five World Cup titles, and Garcia is also mulling taking the pitch for South this spring. In the meantime, he is shining in the pool. Garcia has picked up eight victories this season and been a runner up twice more.
He specializes in freestyle and has qualified for the Class 4A state meet in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyles. The 500 is the lone individual freestyle event Garcia hasn't beaten the state qualifying standard in.
"I only swim freestyle," he said with a smile. "I tried (butterfly), but it's not for me."
South coach Jason Garman said Garcia is a welcomed addition to the roster, and marvels at his maturity.
"He's done a phenomenal job of going to school, being away from family and being in a completely new environment," Garman said. "Being in a foreign country and trying to communicate all day in a new language has to be exhausting in itself.
"He gives everything he has in every practice on top of all the new stuff he encounters. ... He's been a great swimmer, a great teammate and a great influence on the guys."
Garcia wants to attend college in the United States and thought a year as a high school exchange student would be give him a head start on adapting to living abroad. While the act of swimming itself is familiar, Garcia has had to adapt to American swimming.
"It's so different from Brazil," he said. "We have meets once per month there. My body has had to get used to competing so often. It's different, but it's going good.
"Practice is also a lot different. We're swimming for a lot more time and doing a lot more meters. I like it. My experience has been really good."
In the pool
South, Cheyenne Central and Cheyenne East will all compete in the Class 4A East Conference meet starting with the preliminary heats Friday in Gillette. The finals will be contested Saturday.
Campbell County, Sheridan and Thunder Basin also will take part in that meet.
On the mat
Conference action gets going hot and heavy for 4A East teams this weekend. East and Central compete at Sheridan on Friday, while South visits Gillette to take on Thunder Basin and Campbell County.
East and Central will square off with the Gillette schools Saturday, while South makes the trip to Sheridan.
Burns-Pine Bluffs added a dual with Fleming, Colorado, to make up for a dual that fell off the schedule earlier this season. The action starts at 6 tonight in Fleming.
Burns-Pine also will take part in the Southeast Duals on Saturday in Yoder.
On the track
All three Cheyenne schools will compete at the Basin Nation Invitational on Friday in Gillette.
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.