Brookville’s swimming coach wasn’t sure what to expect from his girls swimming team coming into the year after losing some key members of last year’s team. After being knocked off by Jefferson Forest at the Seminole District meet, the Bees rebounded to repeat as the Region III champions and that is why Brookville’s Hank Reed was selected as the News & Advance’s girls swimming coach of the year.
“I thought we were a little tired at the district meet,” Reed said. “The girls really came through and were just awesome at the Region III meet.
“We lost by something like seven points at the Seminole District meet but won the Region III meet by like 24 points. I wasn’t surprised that we did well but I was surprised by the margin of victory. It was one of those moments that make the hair on your arms stand up.
“What was really neat was that it wasn’t just the frontline swimmers that did well at the Region III meet. We ended up taking the largest group of swimmers to the (Group AA) state meet that we’ve ever taken.”
A young Brookville team finished 37th at the state tournament.
“I thought we were a little tentative on Friday (the first day of the state meet), but the kids that made it to Saturday swam really well,” Reed said. “I thought it would be kind of a down year. We were pretty much led by the junior class.”
It was Reed’s second Region III girls title in just his second year as the Bees coach. He was the head coach for the Lynchburg YMCA for 15 years before taking the job at Brookville.
“Swimming is just the best sport in the whole wide world,” Reed said. “It’s a lifetime sport. It teaches physical fitness, an endurance level that rivals any athletes, it’s a mental sport, a competitive sport and swimming teaches team work and discipline.”
Reed still works with some the younger age group programs at the YMCA in addition to coaching the Bees.
“What’s neat is that I get to work with them (as little kids) and then see them again years later,” Reed said. “It great to see how much they grown and how much they’ve grown as swimmers and people.”
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