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Salem Academy’s Taden Swing swims the men’s 100 yard butterfly at a swim meet at Philomath High School on Thursday. Swing came in second place with a time of 1:01:07.
PHILOMATH – Taden Swing has the perfect name for the baseball player he once was.
Now that the Salem Academy High School senior is a swimmer, and a pretty good one, he needs a nickname or something.
Swing won the 100 backstroke (1:00.82), was second in the 100 butterfly (1:02.25) and swam on the winning 200 medley (1:52.09) and 200 free (1:39.02) relay teams in Salem Academy’s dual meet against Philomath on Thursday.
Considering he’s in his second full year of swimming competitively, his ascension in the swimming world is staggering.
“I definitely don’t think it was surprising,” said Salem Academy senior Keira Supple, who won the 100 backstroke and was second in the 50 free (27.15) Thursday. “He’s been training so hard ever since freshman year.
“At first he couldn’t swim as much because he had surgery on his elbow, but he had been training for years before. It was definitely no surprise how well he’s performing, and I think you’re going to see more of him at state as well.”
Swing wouldn’t have swam competitively if he hadn’t injured the elbow in his right arm prior to his freshman year at Salem Academy.
It took three surgeries to reattach the muscle and fix a broken growth plate in that elbow.
He took up swimming at the urge of teammate Emma Boles – with significant prodding from others – for rehabilitation purposes.
“My freshman and sophomore year I only swam like three to four meets total,” Swing said. “I couldn’t even use my arms. I just used it for meets a little bit.”
Last year, when he was finally healthy for the first time in high school, he was a breakout star for the Crusaders in the pool.
He qualified for the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A state swimming meet in four events and placed fourth in the state in the 50 free.
“Here I am looking at colleges for swimming,” Swing said. “I never thought that breaking my elbow would work in a way like this. God works in crazy ways sometimes.”
Swing made a pretty good comeback in baseball, too.
He a first-team all-PacWest Conference and third-team all-state outfielder as a junior.
Though he hopes to pitch this year, he understands his future is in swimming.
“He hasn’t even began to tap into the potential that he has,” Salem Academy coach Maria Robertson said. “We’re hoping college swimming is going to happen and I’m really excited to see what happens with a college coach with him to push him even harder.”
Also for Salem Academy’s boys against Philomath, Joel Westby won the 50 free (26.47) and 400 free (5:40.31), Jack Ryan Smith won the 100 free (57.20) and the Crusaders won the 400 free relay.
Salem Academy’s girls swept all three relays, Sarah Kenyon won the 200 IM (2:48.58) and Molly Gallager won the 500 free (5:40.31).
The Crusaders placed fifth in the state last year and with a deep roster and accomplished senior class – led by Supple, Salem Academy’s first state champion a year ago – has aspirations of winning its first district championship.
“I think it’s probably like the biggest chance we’ve ever had,” Robertson said. “We’ve added some really fast girls. We have some girls who started swimming who are really fast, which is awesome, and then our classic girls who have been here for all four years.
“We’ve got depth and speed so I think we have quite the chance of winning. It will be tough. Sweet Home is fast. They have good swimmers. It’s our best girls team we’ve ever had, by far.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
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Salem Academy’s Taden Swing swims the men’s 100 yard backstroke at a meet against Philomath High School in Philomath on Thursday.
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Salem Academy’s Kiera Supple swims the women’s 100 yard backstroke at a meet against Philomath High School in Philomath on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.
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NOMINATIONS NEEDED
Do you know someone who should be nominated for the Statesman Journal’s fan voting awards to be announced during the Mid-Valley Sports Awards?
Courage Award: Recognize an athlete who exhibited leadership during difficult or sensitive times.
Heart and Desire Award: Nominees for this award are the ones who show up and give maximum effort and support the team, even if they are sitting on the sidelines.
Comeback Player Award: Honors an athlete who returned to competition from an injury or other situation that forced him or her to miss significant playing time.
Fan Experience Award: Recognizes the area’s most outstanding school sports environment, shining a spotlight on the bands, cheerleaders, dance squads and fans.
Let us know at MidValleySportsAwards.com. You can also buy tickets to the first Mid-Valley Sports Awards show on June 7 at the Salem Convention Center. Deadline extended through Feb. 15.
MID-VALLEY SPORTS AWARDS
Discount tickets are on sale for the June 7 awards banquet at the Salem Convention Center with NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw as the keynote speaker. Tickets are $50 through Sunday, but increase to $65 afterward. Go to MidValleySportsAwards.com for tickets and more information.