Gillette: Best swimming you get

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

The Rawlins High School boys swimmers had their shot at glory. On Thursday and Friday, they’ll get that chance again.

A week and a half ago, the Outlaws let the conference championship slide through a grasp that just wasn’t tight enough. Only time will tell if the team’s spirit can recover going into the state meet scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Gillette.

What is for sure, however, is that Lander High School is poised to be ahead of the pack. Defending champions for 12 years running, Lander still has its depth and has not lost its speed.

According to Rawlins head coach Don Brinkman, the powerhouse has four qualifiers in every event. “That’s enough to gain them two in the top six and two in the bottom six at least,” Brinkman said. It’s tough to catch a team that attracts points like a magnet over paper clips.

Brinkman plans to take a team of eight to Gillette. His team is larger than Worland, Newcastle and Douglas, but the teams brought by Lander and Sublette should be substantial.

On the bright side, Brinkman believes his team has the potential to place third in the state meet. However, they could also place as low as seventh. Really, it depends on how hard the swimmers go and how the rival coaches arrange their teams.

Attracting the most attention on the Outlaws’ roster is Ryan Palmer, who “has all the potential” to be a state champion diver, Brinkman said. Palmer should also compete in the 50-yard freestyle as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay. He will join the DeMillard-Palmer relay team in the 200-yard freestyle relay, alongside his younger brother, Jimmy Palmer, and the DeMillards, Daniel and Eric.

Placing second his sophomore and junior years, Palmer goes into the state meet with “the highest degree of difficulty in optional dives of all my divers from my 32 years of coaching,” Brinkman said. That includes his two sons, both of whom walked away with state championships in their tenures at Cheyenne East High School.

Also diving on Thursday and Friday, Andrew Gile earned the eighth-place slot on the top 10 board at Rawlins High School, earning 235 points in the mock meet against Laramie last Friday. Jimmy Palmer also plans to dive in the event.

Keep an eye out for Daniel DeMillard and James Laux, two seniors who are expected to finish in the top six in their events. Daniel DeMillard should be entered in the 200-yard and 100-yard freestyle, while Laux should swim the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. Though he qualified in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:12.12 in the Laramie meet, he does not plan to swim it in Gillette.

Laux and Daniel DeMillard should be part of relays as well, with Daniel DeMillard in the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays and Laux in the 200-yard medley relay, swimming backstroke, and the 400-yard freestyle relay as anchor.

Jimmy Palmer ought to be one to watch in the 50-yard freestyle, as he has elevated himself to be among the fastest on the team in the event. He currently stands right behind his brother and Daniel DeMillard. He should also appear in the diving event and as anchor in both the medley relay and the freestyle relay.

“He really stepped up this year,” Brinkman said. He pointed out that Jimmy Palmer just qualified for the state meet in the 50-yard freestyle, earning a time of 26.11 seconds in the Laramie meet.

The true colors should show for the Outlaws as they seek to finish in the top three. The swimming preliminaries begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday, while the diving preliminaries begin at 7 p.m. Finals for both should be held Friday, starting at 11 a.m.