ROCKTON — Owen West joined an organized swimming team in the seventh grade, stepped up his game as a Hononegah High School sophomore and earned three trips to the IHSA state meet.
Wednesday afternoon, he saw the reward for his efforts, signing a letter-of-intent to attend St. Norbert College and swim for the Green Knights.
“I really like the coach there,” said West, who felt right at home on the campus in DePere, Wis. “He’s really good and really nice. He sent me an email and that’s what got the recruiting started. I mean who doesn’t want to compete in a sport in college?”
West owns the 100-yard backstroke record at Hononegah and as a senior won the event in 53.76 seconds in the Byron Sectional to qualify for the IHSA Boys Swimming and Diving State Championships at FMC Natatorium in Westmont.
He was also voted the NIC-10 Most Valuable Swimmer this past season. At the conference meet at Rockford Jefferson, the senior won the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.72 seconds and also won the 100 backstroke as Hononegah captured its 14th straight conference crown with 307 points. Boylan was a distant second with 214.
“It was exciting to see Owen achieve the school’s 100 backstroke record and go out on that note,” Hononegah head coach Daryl McCabe said. “I know we will miss him in our program. He has helped elevate everyone around him. He has been very consistent. He is going to fit in very well at St. Norbert. They’re going to push him and I’m excited to see what he does in his new conference.”
West expects to compete in the backstroke and freestyle at SNC, which took second place in the Midwest Conference this past season. While he is a top freestyler, he isn’t shy about naming his favorite event.
“I like the backstroke best and it is my best event,” he said.
West said he started his swimming career competing for head coach Scott Klitzman and the Stateline Aquatic Team.
“I really think all my coaches have been great, starting with coach Scott when I was in the seventh grade,” he said. “I swam with him up until sophomore year. Then I went to Brian McGuire and now Daryl.”
West said his swimming career took a turn for the better his sophomore year when he earned Most Improved and qualified for state.
“After my freshman year it really picked up,” he said. “My freshman year I still made varsity, but barely. It was fun that season, but my sophomore year is when I actually began to have success. I feel like I worked harder over that summer, much more than before.”
At SNC, he plans on studying finance.
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