Jun. 25—The Dakota Riptide swim club has 73 swimmers competing in this weekend’s home meet.
And for leadership, they can all look up to the top of the roster to seniors Stella Bullis and Emma Bradley.
Both swimmers will be competing next year in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Bullis for Northern State, and Bradley for the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. There was only one way they made it happen, Riptide coach Clyde Smith said.
“I don’t know if anyone thought they would be swimming next year at the collegiate level, but their hard work and determination has put them in a place where they’re going to be swimming at the Division II level in college and we’re super excited,” Smith said.
Both will be in the pool for the club’s annual home summer meet, which opens Friday and runs through Sunday at the Mitchell Outdoor Aquatic Center at Hitchcock Park. Swimming starts at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, and at 8:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the 50-meter pool.
Smith said he has high hopes for this team as he described them as “crazy talented.” The Riptide club is made up of swimmers from the Mitchell and Huron areas.
The team has only two graduating seniors — Bullis and Bradley — and three juniors out of 84 swimmers. Smith said it’s because of those numbers and the personalities of the pair that have made a large impact on the young swimmers.
“One of the major impacts that they’ve had is showing the younger swimmers how to work and focus on little things and use (swimming) as an outlet,” Smith said.
Bullis has been swimming for nine years and said swimming “has been one of the biggest decisions of my life.” She competes in backstroke and sprint freestyle.
In the 2019 South Dakota Long Course Championships, Bullis was a three-time finalist. She finished fifth place in 1,500-yard freestyle, seventh place in 800 freestyle, and seventh place in 200 backstroke.
Bullis said she practices as often as possible and maintains a good diet to give herself the best chance every day in the pool. She commended Smith for helping develop the Riptide swimmers, including her own skills.
“He’s been more of a father figure than an actual coach to me,” Bullis said. “He’s one of the best coaches we’ve had.”
Bradley said swimming has meant everything to her, something she has been able to pour her time and talent into.
“It’s the one thing I always knew how to do and it’s always one thing I would always come back to. It’s going to take me to big places in the future,” Bradley said.
Bradley competes in middle-distance freestyle and individual medley. Bradley was fourth in the 1,000-yard freestyle at the indoor state championships in February.
“Mindset is everything. Having a positive attitude coming into the pool everyday is big,” Bradley said.
Smith said a lot of the Riptide team has not swam competitively since 2019, due to COVID-19. Twelve members of the team were able to swim at the International Swim Coaches Association Elite Showcase in Florida in April for swimmers ages 9 to 14. That included Cora Hofer, Ethan Hofer, Sophia Huber, Ethan Plamp, Owen Raml, Brock Russell, Natalie Schelske, Owen Schelske, Emerson Smith, Kambyl Wede, Kip Wede and Aspen White.
“Right now, we’re looking at how much better we are than two years ago,” Smith said.