By Blake Chadwick
Wichita Collegiate boys swimming head coach Kamren Hall has been a swimmer his whole life, but after retiring, he felt how much he missed swimming and knew he wanted to get back any way he could.
“I certainly missed the spark of athletics and being around the pool,” Hall said. “When the job opened up, I instantly jumped at the opportunity. At the time, as a college student, I needed a different type of stimulation beyond academics.”
Now, five years later, Hall has one of his best teams since he was the coach even after finishing second place last year in class 5-1A.
“The team is certainly very strong, and we have some excellent swimmers,” Hall said.
“Nathan Lynch, a senior, is returning to defend his state title in the 100-yard breaststroke. Harry Ling, also a senior, is coming off a strong finish last year, placing 5th in the 200 free and 4th in the 500 free. Luke Cremin, a junior, placed 7th in the 100 fly and 5th in the 500 free last year. Karim Sandid, a sophomore this year, placed 8th in both the 500 free and the 100 breaststroke last season.”
The Spartans have picked up exactly where they left off from last year but know that the long road won’t end until they win their state championship.
“We’ve already had a great start to the season, with many state qualifications,” Hall said. “Like any year, our main adversity is being such a small school and finding as much depth as possible in the team. We expect to finish the season well, but obviously, so do the other teams, so we’ll see how everything plays out.”
