MILL CREEK
Jimmy Rogers enjoys all kinds of sports.
When he has the spare time, which isn’t very often these days, Rogers likes nothing better than to toss around a football or to shoot some hoops with friends.
But for the past four years a different sport has taken center stage for the Jackson senior.
It certainly isn’t the most glamorous sport. Or the one that draws the most crowds. It is a sport, however, Rogers feels compelled to work at year round – swimming.
Rogers’ schedule includes five days a week of high school practices or meets, after which he heads to another pool for more workouts with the Stingray Swim Club. Rogers also attends Saturday practices and makes it to two 5:30 a.m. practices during the week for his club team.
The reason for all the hard work is simple. Rogers has to do it if he wants to be considered among the elite in his sport.
“I’ve played basketball and football. I’ve played all those sports,” Rogers said. “Swimming is by far the hardest. It takes the most work and time and you can’t really take a break from swimming. If you take two weeks off, it’ll take a long time to get back into it. So you’ve got to keep working hard all year.”
All year pretty much means all year.
With the exception of three weeks in August when the club season wraps up, Rogers can be found at either the West Coast Aquatics Center in Mill Creek or one of the other pools in Snohomish County.
“That is the only way you can improve and compete with the best swimmers,” Rogers said. “All the best swimmers do that, so you’ve got to do that to keep up with them.”
Rogers hopes to keep up with the top swimmers in the state at his final appearance as a member of the Jackson swim team at the Class 4A championships this weekend (Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15-16) at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. It will be his fourth straight appearance at state.
This year Rogers is competing in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke. He took first place in the 100 freestyle and finished third in the 100 backstroke at the Northwest District 4A championships Feb. 9 at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
Rogers started to take swimming more seriously starting his freshman year of high school. Since then the only time Rogers has taken off was a month during the latter part of the cross country season his junior year. Those few weeks are the only time Rogers was out of the pool.
“I know if I want to get better and go to the next level, I’ll have to do things like wake up at 4:30 in the morning,” Rogers said.
Practices, even the early morning sessions, are fun for Rogers, who draws energy from his teammates.
“They really push me. I push them,” he said. “It’s actually really fun to race each other at practice. I also really like seeing my personal growth through the season. You can actually see yourself get better with your times.”
Rogers hasn’t decided on what college he’ll attend after high school, but he definitely wants to continue swimming in college.
His older sister Emily swims for Cal State Northridge, a school Jimmy is considering along with Seattle University among others.
“I still have a lot more in me,” Rogers said. “I think I can still improve.”
In December, Rogers qualified for the Junior Nationals in Orlando, Fla., in March.
Jackson head coach Drew Whorley has worked with Rogers since he joined the Wolfpack swim team.
What Whorley will remember about Rogers are the drop in times from his junior to his senior year. Rogers switched club teams and made some technical adjustments that have translated into much faster times.
“I don’t know we’ve ever had a kid at Jackson who has had as significant a drop in times and as big of a jump in their ability from their junior to their senior year,” Whorley said. “That’s going to be the thing that separates him from most of the other guys that we’ve ever had.”
Rogers noted that some of the times in the regular season dual meets were faster than what he finished at the 2007 state meet, where he placed sixth in 200 individual medley and seventh in the 100 backstroke. His goal is a top three finish this year.
“I think I’ll do a lot better than last year,” Rogers said. “I’m really excited to see what I can get.”
Whorley isn’t the only one to notice the hard work Rogers puts in at practice. The Jackson swim team didn’t have much experience back other than Rogers.
“He really did a tremendous job of leading this team,” Whorley said. “He did it by leading by example and to me that’s one of the most important qualities you can have in any senior, much less one of your top athletes. I’m proud of him and I’m really excited to see what’s to come.
“The kid’s come a long way.”
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