Woosters First Family of swimming winding down a decade of success
brian questel
January 5, 2011
253
011011 Hooley
Promo: For the Hooleys, alls well in the water
Woosters First Family of swimming winding down a decade of success
By Brian Questel
Oh, that ugly duckling from Hans Christian Andersens fairy tale. As it turned out, Andersens ugly ducklings really do exist, and evidence of that has been in Wooster all along.
I was a klutz, laughed Whitney Hooley.
I was terrible, admitted Kyle Hooley.
I wasnt good at anything else, said Chase Hooley.
Remember the metamorphosis Andersens ugly duckling went through? Add in a little age, a lot of water, and the transformation of the Hooley family was complete. In the process, they became the areas First Family of Swimming.
For a decade, there has been a Hooley on the swim rosters at Wooster High School, and the impact the trio made is evidenced on the record boards at Woosters Shapiro Natatorium. All three own individual records and/or relay records, but their impact extends beyond Wooster as evidenced by their All-Ohio and All-America honors.
I dont know if you can find any other families in the area who have dominated like (the Hooleys), said Wooster High boys coach Jeff DeHaan. The Sponsellers at West Holmes would be ranked up there as one of the most dominant families in the tri-county area and you can make a good argument. But besides the school records, you can look at what the Hooleys have done on a sectional, district and state level, as well as their All-American accolades. Theyve succeeded at all three levels -- district, state and national levels.
Whitney Hooley certainly did. By the time she graduated in 2004 she owned a trio of school records, seven All-Ohio honors, two All-American honors and three All-American consideration times. After finishing 14th, 18th and 11th at state in the 100 butterfly during her first three seasons, Whitney finished fourth in the state in the 100 butterfly her senior year and 32nd in the country.
She was a four-time district champion in the backstroke, finishing runner-up in the state as a senior and 48th in the U.S. She was fifth at state as a junior, eighth as a sophomore and 10th as a freshman.
Thats pretty good for someone with no coordination or grace.
Swimming is the only sport I can do, laughed Whitney. I get hurt doing anything else. Im trying to get into running right now, but swimming is the only place Im relatively safe.
Even though she started swimming at the relatively late age of 10, she took to it like a duck to water and it carried her into college at Gardner-Webb in North Carolina.
I said Id never swim Div. I and I ended up doing that and got a full ride. Money talks, I guess, she laughed. I couldnt have gotten the education I did without a scholarship. You hear that D-I owns you and takes all your time, but I was surrounded by people who make that OK.
Gardner-Webb was my last college search. I wanted a Christian school and nursing program. They didnt know how fast I was until I got there, but they offered me a full ride before I left with academics and swimming.
She continued her run of success, setting school records and winning conference championships en route to earning degrees in religion and psychology. After graduation in 2008, she earned her masters in kinesiology from Georgia Southern. She is now working as a personal trainer in Pittsburgh.
Swimming is the only sport we can do but were good at it, she laughed. It taught me discipline for sure. Div. I swimming takes focus and discipline and that stays with you. But, it took me places I never would have gone without it.
Kyle Hooley put together a career that pushed him to the top of the boys rankings at Wooster by the time he graduated in 2007, although he was pushed into second by former teammate Alex McCord. Hooley owns the 100 backstroke record and finished 16th in the state as a junior, a time that earned him All-America consideration. He placed 18th as a senior in the race.
He also owns the second-fastest butterfly time in school history and was on medley and 400 free relays that that have 12 of the top-40 times in school history. He went to state all four years on relays, although those relays just missed out on All-Ohio honors.
It wasnt always that way, he noted.
I didnt have a whole lot of exposure to other sports. The last thing I really played was baseball and I was terrible, said Kyle. Mom told me I had to do some sport to stay in shape. Whitney was a good swimmer, so mom threw me in there to see how Id do.
I guess I got my work ethic from my parents and swimming gave me an outlet to use it, he said. I wasnt very good for years, but I kept working at it and I slowly improved. By the time I was 12 or something, I started to see some success. I had invested so much into it, I decided to stick with it.
He followed his sister to Gardner-Webb to swim on the inaugural mens team, but dropped out after one season when ROTC offered a way to pay his way through school.
It was their first year to have a mens team, he said. Compared to a very young team, I did pretty well. I really improved from high school. When you immerse yourself in a program like that, as small as it was, everyone is bound to improve.
In a way it was hard to walk away because I knew I would keep improving. But, I didnt enjoy it and didnt like the head coach, and the Army was where I wanted to be. Ive had a lot of opportunities in the Army I wouldnt have had otherwise.
He will graduate this spring with a major in math, which could lead to a masters in engineering down the road.
Chase Hooley is closing in on the final weeks of his high school career as he looks to enhance his resume. A two-time state qualifier in the 200 IM (2009, 23rd) and 100 breaststroke (2010, 24th), he holds the school record in the breaststroke as well as being part of last years 200 and 400 free relays that set school records and earned both teams All-Ohio honors. In addition, the 200 relay earned All-American consideration in both 2009 and 2010.
Hes looking to earn state berths in both individual events and earn All-Ohio honors and cap a career that began long ago as an observer from a perch on his mothers hip. From those early days, he learned about the dedication it takes.
(Whitney and Kyle) were always there for the morning practices and I saw the hard work they put in, he said. That taught me that to be as good, I would have to work as hard as they did. I think all three of us have natural talent. It just took me awhile.
His inspiration comes from Whitney, who also coached him two summers.
I see both her strength and her technique when shes in the water, said Chase. She watches my meets and tells me little technical things that I need to fix.
If I talk to anyone I talk to Whitney. She stuck with it longer and she is good at explaining how to do it and what to fix. Kyle watches and says, Good job.
We swim different events, deadpanned Kyle.
Chase is gearing up for that final stretch with an eye on his goals and state.
Ive actually been a little disappointed, he said. Im not doing times like I thought I would be doing. I definitely have to start working harder than I have been. Im right around where I was last year. I still want state and to get the IM record. Ill have to work harder to achieve those goals.
Wooster girls coach Chris Matthew remains amazed by what Whitney did.
When Whitney did those times her senior year, it was so amazing. I was also pregnant, but Thomas wasnt going anywhere (he was born the following day), she laughed. Ill never forget looking at the scoreboard. She had never broken 59 (in the back) and she went 57 in the prelims. Even today thats extremely fast.
Im proud to have been her coach. She was very coachable and she was a product of Wooster – she never swam for anyone else. She was so much fun to watch that year. She lived to swim in big meets.
Weve been witness to some of the best, said DeHaan. Kyle is the second-best swimmer of all time to Alex McCord, who just left, and Chase is eighth all-time and Whitney is the best girl all-time.
Kyles 175th All-American Consideration time was out of 16,000 kids who swam the backstroke and Whitney was 38th in the fly and 48th in the back. Thats the only thing Chase hasnt done (individually) but hes done that on relays. I know hed like to match his brother and sister, along with breaking his own record and trying to get the 200 IM and hit a consideration time and a national ranking. For all three to do that would be remarkable.
Their mom made the comment to me one time, I told the kids if they are going to do something, we do it well. It was a different slant from a moms perspective. If they were going around to all the meets and practices, they were going to do it well, and they sure did.
