King of the pool: swimmer seeks Olympics

An up and coming swimmer is already making a name for himself and he hasn’t even started high school yet.

James King, who is going to be starting his freshman year at Green River High School this fall, is already becoming well-known on the swimming circuit.

“He just crushed records,” Randy Walker, Green River USA head coach, said.

Walker said he was crushing the middle school competition throughout the season and breaking records left and right. He even broke a couple of the records set by local well-known swimmer and two-time conference champion Michael Richmond.

Some of the middle-school records King broke, include 200 free, individual medley, 50  free, 50 fly, 100 free and the backstroke. He was able to, along with his teammates Sam Quick, Jason Richmond, Jonathan Clark, Brady Young and Jake Probst, break relay records as well.

“It feels pretty good,” King said. “All the hard work has finally paid off.”

“He’s just a really great kid,” Walker said. “Some records he broke have been around since 1985.”

Walker said it’s not just that King’s breaking the records, but by how much he’s breaking them by.

“His times in middle school would have made him an All-Stater at high school,” Walker said.

King said he took an interest in swimming when he was eight years old, but didn’t really start competing in it until he was 12.

“I figured it was a unique sport and not a lot of kids do it,” King said.

He just knew when he entered the pool it was something he would eventually compete in.

“I just love the pool,” he said.

Walker said when other swimmers compete against him they often say “It’s nice to swim with someone who might be an Olympian some day.”

King can’t deny his drive to break even more records and isn’t ruling out the possibility of becoming an Olympian some day.

“I think it can be a goal down the road,” King said. “It feels pretty good, but I know there are kids out there working just as hard and I have to keep up with that effort.”

King knows all too well that he has to keep practicing, which is why he was not only in the middle school swimming program, but he’s a member of the Green River USA Swim Team, which basically competes nationally year round.

“I hope to keep improving,” King said. “I’ll keep listening to my coach and see what he has to say and hopefully he can help me from there.”

Walker said King is a great swimmer, but there are also a lot of other talented swimmers in the middle school program. 

“All the kids had a really great season,” Walker said. “They were a great group.”

During the middle school competitions this past season, no other team was able to come within 100 points of the Green River team.

King enjoyed his time on both teams.

“It’s a great program,” King said. “All the coaching staff is so wonderful.”

King said he is looking forward to the high-school meets and can’t wait to work with others on breaking relay times. When King isn’t busy swimming he plays on the baseball and football teams.

 

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