From the Press Box:

Club swim team has grown into formidable force

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 | 1 a.m.

When Mike Polk formed the Boulder City Swim Team in 1990, he wanted to create a nationally prominent squad.

But with only 18 swimmers, he wondered how it would happen.

"It was always our goal to be successful, but it was hard to imagine at first. There was only a few kids and space was a problem," Polk said.

The program became the Boulder City-Henderson Heatwave in 1991, when it expanded beyond Boulder City and added the Lorin L. Williams Pool in Henderson.

Since then the success of the team has enjoyed more successes that Polk could have ever imagined.

The Heatwave won it's sixth consecutive Nevada Short Course Championship on Nov. 11 and has won 10 of the last 11 titles. The team took second in 2004, losing by a point and a half to the Clark County Sandpipers, the Heatwave's largest rival.

"We were fired up after that, and I think that kept the kids motivated to win," Polk said.

Success has come in other ways than just titles. Polk and the other Heatwave coaches have taught a number of top level swimmers. Polk said approximately 40 to 50 have competed in college and received scholarships in the last two decades.

Four former or current swimmers participated in the Olympic Trials in June.

Of the 18 events in the 2008 high school state swimming championships, seven were won by Heatwave swimmers.

The Heatwave is the largest club team in Southern Nevada with 350 swimmers, using the facilities at Boulder City, Henderson's Multigenerational Center Competition Pool and Whitney Ranch Indoor Pool.

The club finished last season ranked as the No. 37 team in the country by USA Swimming.

Despite the program's success the last 18 years, Polk isn't content with what's been achieved.

Polk added that taking that next step is going to take a combined effort between the coaches and the swimmers. He's assembled a talented staff of coaches and said it's going to be up to his swimmers to push themselves.

"We've got a great staff in place and now, it's just a matter of selling the idea to the kids," Polk said.

As bright as the past has been for the Heatwave, there's plenty of reasons to believe there's an even brighter future.

Brent Hinckley is the Boulder City News sports writer and can be reached at 990-7822 or brent.hinckley@hbcpub.com.