A whole lot of pride and a little bit of pressure.
They go hand in hand for the Wilson High boys swimming team – not to mention the Long Beach-based community that ardently follows one of the great streaks in U.S. sports history.
The last time Wilson High’s boys didn’t win the Moore League swimming championship, Richard Nixon was president, disco was a year or two from sweeping the nation and the Lakers were about to win their first-ever NBA title in Los Angeles.
The Streak is already a state record. The Bruins will be going for their 42nd consecutive league championship when prelims begin this afternoon at Cabrillo High. The finals are Friday, starting at 5 p.m.
“We take a great deal of pride in what the streak means,” Wilson senior Albert Riley said Monday after practice. “Forty-two years means a lot to me, my friends and family. It’d be a shame to lose that.”
Now that’s pressure. But it’s not a bad thing, Riley and other Bruins say with a smile.
“It’s a good kind of pressure,” he said. “It makes everyone on the team stay on their toes.”
Coach Eric Berg has kept the streak alive since taking over in 2006. He can feel the interest building each year the Bruins approach the Moore League championship.
“There’s a community here that wants to see that streak stay intact,” he said. “In recent days I was hearing from relatives, old teammates, from my friends. ‘Hey, coach: Let’s do this.’”
Berg, who graduated from Wilson High in 1988 and has a son, Jack, on the team, uses the pride from four-plus decades of dominance to put the challenge in perspective for his young swimmers.
“We’ve tried to stress the importance that those numbers on the wall just don’t appear by themselves,” he said. “It takes a lot of hard work. …
“There’s pressure, which is fine. We’ve had a number of past swimmers come and talk to the guys and just help out. A lot of alumni have made it a point to stress ‘We are Wilson High,’ and there’s an expectation there.
“In order to meet that expectation, you’ve got to work incredibly hard.”
The Streak is an especially hot topic this year because those who follow Moore League swimming know that the Bruins are not the strong favorites they’ve been most years. They won the dual-meet portion of league by the narrowest of margins this spring, tying Millikan and edging out Poly, but under a system that combines points from dual meets and the finals, they could lose the championship if they don’t take first place on Friday.
“The depth of the league is deeper than I can recall in a long time,” Berg said. “Every meet was a challenge. Every meet was planning and strategy and getting the kids to really get pumped up. It was exciting because that’s what league competition is supposed to be.
“But that’s OK. This is Long Beach. If we’re going to hold on to that title of the aquatics capital of the United States, we need this level of competition.”
Injuries and personal decisions have robbed the Bruins of their usual depth in the junior and senior classes, leaving them more vulnerable than usual, Berg said. But the freshmen have responded by improving quickly enough to be strong point scorers.
“We’ve really relied on some of the freshmen this year,” Berg said. “And they’ve really risen to the challenge.”
Riley and juniors Kai Pierce, Jake Gulian and Daniel Shrout are among the key upperclass contributors.
Riley swims the 100 fly, 200 medley and 500 free, Pierce will compete in the 200 free and 100 back, Gulian is a 50-100 freestyle sprinter and Shrout goes in the grueling 500 free and 100 fly. All of them also compete in the relays.
“Riley is our big senior,” Berg said. “He’s a very dynamic conduit to what we’re trying to do. He showed up this year and I said, ‘What do you want to swim?’ He said, ‘Whatever you need me to.’
“That’s the best response any athlete can give you. We’re very appreciative of what he does for this team.”
Swimming may be primarily an individual sport, but Riley epitomizes the team spirit that runs through the Bruins’ program.
“There’s definitely a team aspect to swimming,” Pierce said. “It’s everybody pulling together. The team goal brings everyone closer.”
Not that each Bruin isn’t hoping for an individual league title or two. This is the time of year when the best swimmers take off, benefiting from a practice routine that calls for tapering before the big meets.
“This is going to be fun,” Shrout said. “We’re starting to taper. I know I’m going to drop a lot of time now. It’s my first league meet on varsity. It’s going to be a good experience.”
Contrary to what you might imagine from a program so strong, many of the upperclassmen are looking to break through for the first time at the league meet.
“I broke my kneecap last year and was out the whole season, so this is definitely going to be fun,” said Gulian, who won the 50 and 100 at the recent Klaus Barth Wilson Invitational. “We’re all looking forward to this.”
Contact the writer: jimthomas@lbregister.com
