Years ago, Linda Williams started the Weatherford Water Roos swim team for youth swimmers in the area. The name has changed, but the mission has not as the Wild continues to work with youth and adults while competing in the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) Region IV.
From humble beginnings to enduring the COVID-19 pandemic - which did reduce participation in most organizations across the United States - the team still flourishes.
Now, Linda has retired and her son Matt leads the program, one in which he grew up being coached by his mom. Participation is more than ever, something of which his mother is no doubt proud.
“Back in the ’90s, I remember when I was a kid swimming here when it was just a 40-yard pool,” Matt said. “After COVID, we really tapered off – it was hard – but we are back up to over 140 swimmers this year, which is way more than what we’ve had in the past. “
“The Olympics obviously help out a lot and it makes lots of kids want to swim. The growth has been awesome,” Matt Williams said.
The coach said enthusiasm from the Olympics this summer, the unique cross training elements and health benefits from the exercise itself have helped the team’s numbers continue to soar.
“A lot of sports don’t offer resistance the entire time like swimming does – we have football players and cross country runners come up here, and it’s just something different for them,” Williams said. “Swimming is not the same as any other sport and provides a lot of cross training that helps athletes become more complete. We try to do a lot of practices through relays and games, just different things that are enjoyable for the kids.”
The Wild, who swim at the Weatherford city pool located in Cherry Park, has produced numerous quality swimmers who continue to participate at a high level.
“We did swim lessons here and the way they do it is great,” swim parent Amy Beerwinkle said. “At the end of the session, your student’s instructor has to tell you each day how your kid performed. We did lessons for two years and I was told my daughter (Adelaide Arthur) was ready to be a part of the swim team - I wasn’t ready to get up at 6:30 in the morning, though! “She’s been a natural in the water since 18 months old, and we loved the first year of swimming. Her PE coach is one of her coaches here, and she is still going strong.”
The special attention to detail has encouraged parents like Beerwinkle to continue getting up in early morning hours for her daughter’s continued growth in the pool.
“Because of the swim lessons and how well they’re taught, there is a lot of trust and we know the right people are in place to maintain the proper protocols,” Beerwinkle said. “We appreciate their dedication during the summer time when they should be off.”
The next step for the Wild is to expand the operation. Since they are not a year-round swimming club, the pool is only open two and-a-half months out of the year. When facing off against year-long swimmers in surrounding areas, the organization knows what needs to happen to close the gap.
“We need an indoor facility or something of the sort that we can use year-round because a lot of our kids will have to go to Fort Worth to swim during the offseason – we just don’t have that stuff here yet,” Williams said. “It’s hard to compete against kids who swim 12 months out of the year compared to our kids, who are only able to swim about two and-a-half months out of the year. Our kids work really hard and we hope to keep expanding where we can eventually develop the kids and send them to higher levels.”
Beerwinkle echoed Williams’ sentiments and even took it a step further in promoting aquatic growth on the high school level to help their cause. Now, the group’s members and supporters are aiming to garner more support for their cause.
“What we really need is a year-round swimming facility,” Beerwinkle said. “The main thing that happens is when we go up against these teams with year-round swimmers, we can’t compete.”
“We are working on getting a high school swimming team at Weatherford ISD, because Weatherford is one of only two 6A high schools in the state that doesn’t have a swim team,” Beerwinkle said.
Aledo does have a strong high school swim program and has been sending swimmers to state for years. Numerous swimmers from that program have competed for the Wild over the years, including this year.
Beetwinkle said the Weatherford school board has been pushing more for this, too. She is hoping the area and city entities will also get on board with the cause.
“The whole community could benefit from it, whether it is competitive or leisurely swimming, water aerobics – there is something for people of all ages to do,” she said. “The summer swim team has continued to grow and we know the interest and space are there.”
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