Ben Whitehead
When Duncan High swimmer Bryce Sepulvado first came out to swim practice, his intention wasn’t to fall in love with swimming and give up a sport he had played since the time he was four years old.
Sepulvado was hoping to stay active during the fall and winter seasons and get in shape by the time baseball season came around.
Instead, Sepulvado found the sport he truly loved and has pushed himself harder each day to perfect his swimming technique.
“At first, it was hard,” Sepulvado said of his first swim practice. “It wasn’t what I expected, but now I love it and I’m trying to reach my goals of winning state.”
Sepulvado credits his coaches and teammates for their encouragement. He also believes his time in College Station, Texas was a big help going into his senior season.
Sepulvado along with several other Demon swimmers attended a swim camp at Texas A&M; over the summer. The camp put some things in perspective for Sepulvado.
“We were split up into groups and all of us decided to go in the harder group because we thought we could handle it,” he said. “After the first morning workout, we dropped down to the next group. That made me realize how much I needed to work.”
Sepulvado said that the swimmers were filmed at camp and were able to watch themselves to learn of their mistakes.
“That was big for me because they could film us underwater and then show us what we did wrong,” Sepulvado said. “That was the first time I’ve seen myself like that and it definitely helped me see the things I was doing wrong in my stroke.”
Sepulvado watched Michael Phelps during the 2008 Summer Olympics. He said seeing how good Phelps is really motivated him to work harder.
“His stroke is so smooth,” Sepulvado said of Phelps. “It got me really excited about swimming in my senior year. I really want to push myself to get better.”
Sepulvado has already qualified for state in the 50-meter freestyle. He has been a part of three Demon relay groups that have qualified as well.
There are two more events in which Sepulvado is shooting to qualify. The first being the 100-meter freestyle where he came four-tenths of a second short of qualifying in his last meet.
The other is the 100-meter butterfly, an event he has yet to swim this season. Last yar, Sepulvado was five seconds off the state qualifying time. He will swim the event for the first time this season at the Joe Stocker Invitational this weekend in Oklahoma City.
Sepulvado said the remainder of the season will be used to push himself hard to improve his times and get ready for state.
Sepulvado’s father has been one of his biggest motivators. He says he talks to him after every meet and gives him constructive criticism. He uses what his father says and works every day in practice to perfect his miscues.
After his high school swimming days are over, Sepulvado would like to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Sepulvado’s dad works for Halliburton as an engineer. The younger Sepulvado plans to major in architectural engineering at Oklahoma State University.
“When I first got my acceptance letter, I was pretty excited. It was the first time I felt like a senior,” he said. “I used to work at a golf course and I’d like to design some golf courses of my own one day.
“If OSU had a swim team, I’d try to walk on. Since they don’t, I’ll just focus on my major and working hard in college.”
-Ben Whitehead is a sports writer for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 255-5354, Ext. 165, or via E-mail at ben.whitehead@duncanbanner.com.
