The morning ritual

At a time when most people are either in bed or just waking up to start their day, a dedicated group of athletes are already honing their skills.

Wednesday morning, swimmers in Green River’s USA Swim team were in the Green River High School Aquatics Center pool at 5:30 a.m., starting an hour-long practice involving swimming fundamentals.

The program’s most dedicated swimmers meet at the pool three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The swim team is open to children as young as five years old who demonstrate some swimming ability, to high school competitors. Their coach, Randy Walke...