To get a look at a pair of photo galleries from Day Two of the JSL Championships, click here.
For the past 19 years the Fairview Swim Team has left the Jefferson Swim League Championship with the first place trophy. On Saturday, JJ Bean’s club picked up title number 20, finishing ahead of second place Fluvanna Aquatic Swim Team by just under 275 points. By all measures, Fairview is a dynasty. But Bean’s team isn’t necessarily a product of talent. In fact, he argues just the opposite.
“I firmly believe that talent is overrated,” Bean said. “We have to work to get better. Every coach works to get this team better. Every coach works to help the team get mentally prepared. Every kid is working on how to get better in every way.”
There are a lot of families that swim together in the Jefferson Swim League throughout the various teams. And for Fairview, Holly, Hannah and Hogan Harper have embraced Bean’s message as they formed a dynamic force in the 15-18 girls, 13-14 girls and 11-12 boys races, with Holly finishing runner up to only Crozet’s Natalie Cronk in total points for the 15-18 girls and Hannah accumulating the most points of any girl 13 to 14.
“My sister and I push each other so much,” Holly said. “My brother, this year’s he’s really stepping up and doing well. We just work hard together and we’re happy to get what we can get.”
The 2010 JSL campaign also marks Holly Harper’s third year as a coach for Fairview. Having swum every summer for Fairview, she’s enjoyed the opportunity to try and give back and help the team improve. Now that she’s been coaching for a while, she’s been able to see the progress she’s helped some of the younger swimmers make.
“Two years ago I was coaching the 7 and 8 (year olds),” Harper said. “So to see them in the pool now, it’s fun to be able to see them swim the 50 freestyle.”
Harper, like the vast majority of elite swimmers in Central Virginia, is known for her competitive spirit and desire to win, but when it comes to the JSL Championship, swimming in her events took a back seat to her coaching duties in terms of degree of difficulty.
“As a coach, day two was more stressful,” Holly said. “But our 7 and 8 (year olds) rocked it and won every boys event — it was really exciting. The second session today was really long. But we did well there too and it was a lot of fun to watch the 11 and 12’s be happy for what they achieved.”
Having Harper as coach is exactly the kind of thing that Bean relies on year-after-year — top tier swimmers passing their secrets of the trade down to the younger swimmers. And with Harper, Matt Lockman, Ryan Mitchell and Katherine Nicholson, Fairview has a pair of Commonwealth District and Jefferson District championship level swimmers leading the way.
“What we want to do is help to teach each and everyone of these kids how to get better, how to get motivated to get better,” Bean said. “We have 219 swimmers and easily about two-thirds of them only swim in the summer. So when we have them we’re trying to teach them the strokes correctly. Over time, after they’ve got it right they’ll just get better and better.”
Anyone and everyone involved with the JSL openly talks about the good natured spirit of the league, but when a team wins the championship 20 years in a row, there are rivalries, expectations and sometimes even pressure.
“The JSL is supposed to be just fun, but sometimes there’s still pressure,” Harper said. “Relays — you’re always going to feel responsible in relays because your team is counting on you. Personally though, I kind of take the JSL seriously. I want to win. I love to win. I just hate losing. But I think a lot of the other girls (I race with) take it seriously too. I know we all get upset if someone else out touches us.”
Another year is in the books for the JSL, and as it has been since the summer of 1991, a full year before any of its swimmers were born, this championship belongs to Fairview.
