Un-four-gettable: Rams enjoy another championship

Members of the Riverview High boys swim team stuffed themselves with Waffle House food at 1 a.m. Nov. 11.

The breakfast chain is one of the only places open at such an hour, Rams senior Brett Riley said, and besides, “they have good waffles.”

It was the perfect place to celebrate. Hours earlier, on Nov. 10 in Stuart, Riverview won its fourth-straight Class 4A state title, beating second-place Lake Brantley High 278.5 to 198. For seniors Riley, Brendan Firlie and Nico Hernandez-Tome, it was the culmination of four years of hard work on the high school scene, having made the state team as freshman and contributed to each win since.

After Waffle House, the team went to senior JJ Corrigan’s house and stayed up until 6 a.m. The adrenaline rush of the win would have made sleep impossible, anyway.

If the Rams weren’t already, it’s official now: They’re a dynasty. The title streak puts them in rarefied air, with a single area program boasting a more impressive one — and it’s their female counterparts. The Rams girls team won seven state titles in eight years between 2006-2013.

For the school, it’s old hat. It made an announcement over the loudspeaker on Nov. 13, Hernandez-Tome said, and swimmers received congratulatory high-fives from passers-by in the hallways, but that was it. Even the swimmers themselves have not fully realized what they’ve accomplished.

“It doesn’t feel insane,” Hernandez-Tome said. “We've just always won. It’s cool though. We're going to look back 10 years later and be like, 'Wow.' Right now, it's back to normal."

His teammate agreed.

“We’ve never had the feeling of being ‘close’ (but coming up short),” Firlie said. “We’ve always gotten it done.”

Of all four Riverview title teams, this year’s squad had perhaps the most interesting route  to the podium. The Rams won a single event at the state meet, the 400 freestyle relay (3:05.23) featuring sophomore Alexander Gardner, Firlie, Corrigan and sophomore Rene Strezenicky. The Riverview cheering section was losing its collective mind, Riley said, chanting ‘They don’t want none’ and ‘Big dogs eat first,’ two Rams rallying cries, while the team surged to an approximate two-second win.

Other than that, Riverview relied on its depth. The Rams had 10 top-5 finishes outside of the relay win.

The biggest surprise, in a pleasant way, was Corrigan. He didn’t make the state team his first two years. Last season, he was an alternate, swimming the 200 individual medley 500 freestyle and failing to make the finals in either. This season, in addition to his spot on the 400 freestyle relay, he swam the 100 freestyle, making the finals and finishing second (46.11). He was also a member of the third-place 200-yard medley relay (1:34.44).

“He’s awesome,” Riverview coach Brent Arckey said of Corrigan. “That’s what we want. He’s been a team guy. He’s smart about what he does. He works hard and has a good attitude. Those are all the things I want in an athlete.”

Arckey, the architect of the Rams and the coach of the feeder club Sarasota YMCA Sharks, claims little responsibility for the state title. At the beginning of the season, he asked his team, “What do you want to do?,” meaning, what did they want to accomplish? He told them he would do everything he could to help them reach their goals, and he did. He’s not a coach who believes he is the key to everyone’s success, he said. Instead, his job is to be an usher, essentially, leading them to where his swimmers are headed, anyway. With the depth of this year’s team and the heart they showed, he’s prouder than ever.

“Unfortunately, people only see the guys that win,” Arckey said. The really good athletes are the ones that weren’t relevant three or four years ago. As a coach, that’s the stuff that makes you the most proud. We try to make sure everyone’s being the best that they can possibly be.”

It’s too soon to be thinking about the proverbial one for the thumb, Arckey said. A lot can happen in a year. The senior class, the connection between the state titles, will be gone. Swimmers who raised their personal bars will have to raise them higher.

For now, the Rams celebrate. The only thing sweeter than staring at four championship trophies is lip-smacking-good Waffle House syrup, commemorating a job well done.