Rumer Wins Gamer of the Week Honors

Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week’s Gamer of the Week to senior, Carson Rumer of the Winfield High School swim team.

With the swimming season beginning to wrap up as athlete’s qualify for the state meet, Carson Rumer of Winfield finds himself back in the mix.  Despite undergoing an injury that held him out earlier in the season, Rumer bounced back in time to record some of his best times of the season at the Region IV meet on Feb. 8th.  His times of 23.17 in the 50m Freestyle and 52.48 in the 100 m Freestyle were his two best marks of the season in each event.   Both finishes were enough to help him qualify for states as the 6th seed in the 50 Free and 8th seed in the 100 Free.  Quite the accomplishment for the senior who seems focused on the task before him for his last go around at the State meet.

Carson was quoted saying that his key to success for the year has been knowing that someone is always pushing from behind to come up and steal victory.  “You constantly have to be giving it your all in every race.  There’s always someone that you can’t see that’s pushing harder and faster.  So, each time you enter the pool, you have to keep that in mind and keep the mindset that you’re not necessarily racing the other people in the pool, but always racing the clock.”  He notes that the team’s success has been due to the increasing bond that they have all built with one another.  Despite starting the season off not knowing each other extremely well, Rumer states that the team has grown very close and become a tight knit group. 

Swimming has only been part of Carson’s life since he was a freshman in high school.  He had never swum competitively before and realized that he had a bit of a natural talent for it.  Head coach, Linda Wollaber, commented on Carson’s abilities stating, “He has developed intensely since his time as a freshman here.  He has taken on the leadership role as an upperclassman and his maturity has escalated.  We have 3 freshman boys that he has really taken under his wing and tried to help develop as much as possible.  We knew Carson could have this type of success and I think he has more left to show at states.”  Carson noted that his goals now are to not slack off one iota. “I broke the 50m Free school record at Regionals and plan to do it again along with the 100 m Free at States.  So, the hard work continues.  We aren’t finished yet,” said Rumer.

Carson notes that he loves the community aspect of swimming the most and all the friends he has made at Winfield and the other schools they compete with.  “It’s a different atmosphere than most sports.  I have friends from all over the place and we all cheer each other on at every event and want the best for each other.  It’s been really cool to be involved with that,” states Carson.  He takes inspiration from his friend Nolan, who was a year above him in school and taught him the ropes for how to conduct himself at events and be satisfied knowing that he gave each event his all and left nothing on the table.

Carson has carried a 3.75 GPA through high school and has been involved with Robotics and Deca outside of sports.  He has been weighing his options to swim in college and has a couple of interested schools.  If he decides not to swim at the next level, he plans to attend WVU to study mechanical and aerospace engineering with a minor in business. 

Please look for other local high school athletes to be named in next week’s male Gamer of the Week Sponsored by Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald.

Jonah Skiles, MBA, is the Director of Fitness Operations at Teays Physical Therapy Center and Potential Plus.