'I'm so glad we did this.' Western Hills revives swimming program after nearly 3 decades

Nearly 30 years after the swimming pool in the basement of Western Hills High School was filled up and became the wrestling room, Mustangs are once again starting to hit the water.

Western Hills has revived its swimming program, marking the first time the sport has been offered at the high school since the 1994-1995 school year, according to athletic director Phillip O’Neal.

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“We’re just trying to give our kids new opportunities,” O’Neal said. “I went to Walnut Hills High School, which had everything. Why aren’t we doing this at our public schools? We have kids just trying to pursue their dreams, as well.”

The process of bringing swimming back to Western Hills was anchored by Western Hills Spanish teacher Amanda Snyder, who approached O’Neal with the idea last year and got the green light.

“I went to work,” Snyder said. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do. I feel that knowing background information on some of the students, some of them don’t have access or know how to swim. Really, it’s a life-saving skill I feel like everybody should have.”

Snyder started with a few preseason meetings along with getting a deck pass through USA Swimming, CPR training and becoming Red Cross certified. Next, there was word-of-mouth that brought more attention to the program returning from a 28-year hiatus.

When practice began last October, Snyder had a dozen regular swimmers. When Western Hills last offered swimming in 1995, the team had one swimmer, Snyder was told.

“I’m pretty proud of the fact that we have 12 in our first season,” Snyder said. “They showed up every single day despite challenges just trying to get there.”

Snyder reached out to several local indoor pools from area YMCA locations and local high schools, hoping to find a place to practice. The newly-formed Mustangs landed at the Gamble-Nippert YMCA, where they had access to two lanes three times a week from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m.

Once there was access to a pool, Snyder had to start from the ground up when building the team.

“The kids are very excited and very proud about what they did. Only two of our kids really knew how to swim and could do all four strokes,” Snyder said. “The rest of them had little-to-no experience and ability, so we really worked hard at first just teaching them how to swim.”

The Mustangs got to participate in one junior varsity swim meet with Wyoming at the Powel Crosley YMCA. The results wouldn’t matter, just the experience of seeing what goes into a swim meet.

“We were just proud to be in the water,” O’Neal said. “They had head gear with Mustangs on it. There were real officials there, people there timing it. It was a great feeling.”

O’Neal said the feedback from the swim team has made the decision to revive the program worth it.

“One of the parents, she came to me and said her child was dealing with a lot of depression and since she joined the swim team, her child has done a complete 180,” O’Neal said. “She’s actually on a team and feels like she belongs somewhere. That’s what it’s all about. I’m so glad we did this.”

Western Hills operates as a club team right now but hopes to become an official varsity sport in the near future. Snyder has a complete roster and is hoping to work with the Cincinnati Recreation Center this summer to get more of her swimmers involved in summer programs to gain experience before next season. Interest in the program has substantially grown in the last few months and Snyder could be adding to the roster by next winter.

“They want to keep swimming,” Snyder said. “More kids have come up and wanted to learn how to swim and be on the swim team, too. I’m trying to find ways to get more kids in the water to learn how to swim and practice before next season so we can hit the ground running.”

While the majority of the team was learning to swim, Snyder was learning to be a head coach for the first time with help from assistant Leah Shisler, who helped her juggle everything from organizing practice and taking kids to and from the YMCA.

“They’ve been very supportive of me and I've learned how to coach,” Snyder said. “I have a long way to go, but you can always grow in anything that you do. What it really boils down to is I’m very passionate about the kids learning how to swim. I put in a lot of time to get it going because it’s so important for kids to have that skill.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'I'm so glad we did this.' Western Hills revives swimming program