Indian Creek senior Evan Dennis hopes to be among the state’s top finishers in the butterfly this season.
Daily Journal file photo
Evan Dennis wants his family name back up on the records board at the Chase M. Smith Natatorium.
His father, Aaron, held the Indian Creek mark in the 100-yard butterfly in the 1990s. His uncle, Michael, then owned the mark until Tucker Brock shattered it by going 49.56 seconds at the 2018 state meet.
The drive to bring that record back home could push Evan Dennis to new heights this winter.
“It’s kind of been my goal all of high school and even some of middle school,” the senior said.
A fringe top-eight sectional swimmer in the 100 butterfly as a freshman and sophomore, Dennis broke through last February to post a lifetime best of 51.89 to earn an at-large state meet berth. He improved to a 51.41 in the state prelims the following weekend, finishing 19th and narrowly missing out on a Saturday finals swim.
He’s hopeful that this time around, he can get over the hump and at least into the top 16 come February.
“I definitely feel ahead of last year, and times are kind of showing that,” Dennis said. “I’m ready to see what county’s going to look like, but I think I can get there. I’m feeling a lot better this year; I have confidence that I can drop that time now, since I showed it last year at sectionals.”
Indian Creek coach David Martin calls Dennis “an old man in a young man’s body.” He’s watched Dennis emerge as a leader these past two seasons, sticking it out with the Braves through a coaching change and the departures of some former teammates.
“He’s truly a hard worker,” Martin said. “He’s steady emotionally, a good student. He’s just a solid kid. He’s actually very quiet, but he’s one of those kids that, the kids follow his example. In fact, it’s not uncommon for me to be saying something to the entire team, and you’ll see all of them look at Evan to see how he responds — and how he responds is how they respond. He’s that kind of kid.”
Dennis knew that the Braves needed him to provide that sort of leadership. He could have followed others out the door, but the thought never crossed his mind.
“I felt like I really had to stay even more,” he said. “Me and my two classmates, we had to be the leaders for the next generation of swimmers.”
The local sectional was the only one in the state that had three butterfly qualifiers last season. Dennis placed third at the sectional but ended up finishing the highest of the three at the state meet — and he’s the only one of the three who didn’t graduate, which makes him the de facto favorite this season.
Despite that, he’s not resting on his laurels. Martin preaches the importance of underwaters in short-course swimming — he regularly reminds his team that 60 percent of their swims are underwater — and Dennis has bought in.
“He doesn’t swim many meets outside of high school, but he trains year-round,” Martin said. “So he’s been in here all summer doing a lot of underwater dolphin kick. He’s just been plowing away.”
And he’s not doing it to draw the eyes of college coaches; Dennis plans to continue swimming to stay in shape, but this high school season will almost certainly mark the end of his competitive career. But he’s got a little more than two months left to reach the goals he’s laid out for himself, and he’s doing everything in his power to reach them.
For himself. For his team. And for his family.
