November 15, 2017 at 2:19 p.m.
It takes a village
Heck, Winnicki lead coaching brain trust for Hodag swimmers
It takes a village
This time, however, they will have plenty of help.
Jenny Heck and Marna Winnicki will serve as co-head coaches for the squad this winter, continuing the partnership they formed during the recently-completed girls' swim campaign.
Joining them will be assistant Brent Olson, the other holdover from the girls' coaching staff, as well as a pair of former head swim coaches at RHS Dan Jesse and Jon Koch.
"It's definitely a team effort for the boys' (season) and I think the boys understand that and appreciate that as well," Heck said Monday following the team's first practice. "It's going to be a team effort to get this team doing what they are capable of doing."
Though they had previous coaching experience at the club and middle school level, Heck and Winnicki jumped into the deep end of the coaching pool following Lindsay Byrka's resignation Sept. 20 and quickly formed a partnership that has been successful.
"We kind of balance each other out," Winnicki said. "Jenny's really on top of the workouts and stuff. I just follow her lead."
"And (Marna) helps me with everything else," Heck added. "I felt all of us felt overwhelmed taking this on at the last minute by ourselves, but I think we do complement each other well and I think the kids will enjoy it too - because we can keep a consistent program and still have fun."
Both Jesse and Koch have a history with the RHS swim program, dating back to some of Hodags best seasons from the late 1980s through the early 2000s.
Heck said Koch will attend a number of the team's morning practices as well as help coordinate the team's dryland training. Jesse has been on deck occasionally the last couple of seasons and will continue to do so this year.
"That will help with keeping a consistent program as well as adding some valuable coaching experience as well," Heck said.
While every coach will not be on deck for every practice or competition, the large staff coupled with a small number of swimmers will lead to a very low athlete-to-coach ratio.
"The kids are going to get a lot of individual attention," Heck said, noting that the team would gladly welcome any new swimmers. "We could really use a few more swimmers so we have more relay options and can get more points. If we could get at least three more swimmers to come out, that would be fantastic."
Heck said the vast majority of the swimmers who are back come in with a solid physical base. Many of them got a two-week head start by swimming with the Rhinelander Swim Club and that the swimmers organized a couple of Sunday captains practices, she added.
"I think they're ready, they're excited and they're motivated," she said.
The team will need to be ready as the season quickly kicks into gear with Great Northern conference duals at Tomahawk and Medford Nov. 28 and 30.
"We don't have a lot of time to get going," Heck said. "We're going to see what the kids can do and get them in the water as much as possible the next two weeks."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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