Troy, CBA pool resources to create swimming team

Troy

It was a long-awaited resurrection.

Through growing support backed by voices in the community of students, parents, school administrators and fans alike, the Troy High School varsity boys' swimming program is back after merging with Christian Brothers Academy, and is revamped with a competitive fire in the pool.

It was nearly three years ago when Troy High School students Nate Greene, his brother Daniel and Nik Padunin approached the school board in February of 2017 to present signed petitions in favor of a return to competition.

After much consideration and deliberation, the board, Troy athletic director Paul Reinisch and CBA AD Blaine Drescher got together and mapped out a reality with a newly formed merged boys' swimming team for the 2018-19 season that ended nearly a two-decade hiatus due to budget cuts.

"The board wanted to see the participation numbers," said Patty Greene, whose older son Daniel, 20, never had the opportunity to swim on the team and whose younger son, Nate, is a junior on the team.

"If we're going to start this, we really should have another team involved. We need to have a strong number going forward because we don't want this to fall apart for budget purposes. So, I want to thank them, the parent board, the CBA moms and (Troy AD) Paul Reinisch for help making this happen."

"It means to me that I have a family like outside of the house," said sophomore swimmer James Vogt. "I have my family and then I have these guys on the team. They're great. It (bringing the swim team back) was a surprise out of nowhere for me. I went home from school one day and my mom was like, 'Guess what? We got a swim team for high school.' I was so happy!"

Though there was a modest roster of nine swimmers last season, that number has grown to 15 with a much-needed...