Bradley Boyd, J.R. Newman, Nathan Neville, and Reid Painter, HHS Swimming HHS Swimming Relay Team Stretches for Gamer of the Week Honors
Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week’s male Gamer of the Week to the Hurricane state champion swimming relay team made up of seniors Nathan Neville and Reid Painter, junior, J.R. Newman, and freshman, Bradley Boyd.
The Hurricane boys swim team were a consistent threat this season to any pool they stepped into. They were consistently slated near the top of the state rankings all season long. While some other big rivals, such as GW, claimed many of the headlines heading into the state meet, it was the Redskins’ 200 yd. Freestyle relay and 200 yd. medley relay teams that took home the state titles in those events. The Freestyle relay finished with a time of 1:31.14, while the medley edged out GW for the win by under a second with a time of 1:40.49. Coach, John Boyd stated, “The boys over the past few seasons have been edging closer and closer to that top spot at states in these events but never could quite pull it off, so it was great to see everyone come together and have their best race of the season at the most important time.”
J.R. Newman said the key to their success was showing up to practice and getting comfortable with each other. “We’ve all swam together at some point since we were little, so it was a matter of showing up, putting the work in, refamiliarizing ourselves with one another, and getting comfortable with how each of us starts and putting all the pieces together,” stated Newman. All the boys agreed that it was a great feeling to put together some of their best races of the year at states and defeat one of their biggest rivals in GW in those events.
When verbalizing what they loved most about the sport, Reid Painter spoke for the group noting that swimmers tend to know a lot of people from other teams due to club swimming, so it is basically a friendly atmosphere for everyone. Newman remarked, “That doesn’t make it any less intense or competitive because you really want to beat your friends, but everyone does cheer for you and is happy for your success.”
Nathan Neville noted that the team was really driven by coming up just short in the events the previous two years. “It gave us a chip on our shoulder this year and really motivated us to improve and get over the top. Especially for Reid and I, this being our last year, the feeling of knowing we could do something special really propelled this group,” stated Neville. That something special ultimately became a reality as the success of a group is nearly always sweeter than the success of an individual.
All of the guys excel in the classroom as well with GPA’s ranging from 3.5 – 4.0. Upon graduation, Nathan would like to attend the Air Force Academy. Reid will be attending West Virginia Wesleyan to study Biology. J.R. is still weighing his options with another year left of high school. Bradley is still a few years away but would like to swim in college if possible.
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.