10-yo swimmer

By Kirk Hanna
Times sports writer
State record holders come in many shapes and sizes.
The newest state record came from 10-year-old Zach Cane.
Cane, a fifth grader at Mountain View Elementary School, is a swimmer for the USA affiliated 10-and-under swim program in Rawlins. The team competes in weekend meets between the months of October and March, but the workouts last an hour and a half, every evening in the Rawlins high school natatorium.
Sunday, Oct. 21, Cane broke the standing state record for the boys division in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:10.16. Cane also swims in the 50-yard fly.
Cane started his swimming endeavors when his family bought a pool. “My cousins got me started” with swimming, Cane said. “They would come over and we would play in the water.” Now he gets a thrill from competitive swimming because “there are new challenges each day.”
Swimming is his favorite sport, but he still has a soft spot for “playing dodgeball in gym class,” he said.
Head coach Ron DeFauw said “this is the best group of kids in the state,” falling victim to his personal bias.
DeFauw was a swimmer at the University of Wyoming, so he knows a thing or two about swim workouts.
“It’s a long season,” he said commenting on the season. “Most meets are one day on weekends, with a few bigger meets that run Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”
The young swimmers get a slight break between Thanksgiving and the New Year, as there are no scheduled meets, “but the kids still have workouts during that time,” DeFauw said.
The training will be imperative for Cane, who wants to beat his own time again this year.