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sgunter@wmbb.com

Friday, May 25, 2007

Brothers Keeps Making Waves

PANAMA CITY BEACH - Natural athletes don’t come around too often.  But recent Bay High School graduate Beau Brothers has gone from making waves last year as a beginning swimmer to an expert state champion all in the span of a year.

Brothers played basketball all through middle school and his freshman year at bay high.  According to Brothers shooting hoops just got boring.

“I was already decent at swimming so I figured I try out while a freshman in high school,” Brothers said.  “I was just to messing around, but it turned out I kinda liked it.”

Brothers is a workout machine.  He trains in the gym three days a week and is in the water six days a week.

“I started getting good at it pretty quick,” Brothers said.

“He learned to hone his skills and work on his technique in order to use that speed instead of just muscling through the water,” Panama City Swim Team coach Jonathan Kaplan said.

“Then I learned to get really good you have to swim year-round,” Brothers said.  “’Cause once you stay out of the pool for a while, you just lose it.  You lose your technique.”

All the hard work has paid off.  Brothers owns the 50-yard freestyle state championship and a scholarship to the University of Alabama. 

“I first met beau in late summer and he said the number one priority for that fall was to win the state championship in the 50 freestyle,” Kaplan said.  “I told him what we needed to do and he walked through every door I put in front of him, and he achieved the goal.”

Kaplan coached at Florida State University and Clemson University before coming to Panama City.  He said that he’s never seen anything like beau’s raw talent and natural ability.

“It doesn’t happen that often on the high school level.  So for him to get this far in a couple years is pretty huge,” Kaplan said.  “You have no idea where he’s going to be once he hits college.  He’s going to be great.”

Brothers will compete in the Gulf Breeze Club Makos swim meet June 1-3.

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