COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Brighton High has traditionally had one of the biggest swim teams in the state.

Just not usually this big.

A month into the prep swimming season, the Bengals have nearly 20 more swimmers than they had a year ago. Brighton finished last season with 59 team members. As of two weeks ago, they had 76 swimmers on this year's squad.

"For whatever reason, we've got kids coming up that have never swam before that want to be a part of Bengals' swimming," said coach Todd Etherington. "Hopefully we'll turn at least a couple of them into good swimmers within the next four years."

Armed with the new swimmers, as well as a host of talented returners, Brighton's boys and girls squads look to build on last year, which saw both teams finish third at the 2006 5A state championships.

Certainly, the unexpected increase in numbers has presented a unique set of challenges for the tradition-rich Bengals.

"Numbers are up way too much," said coach Todd Etherington, smiling. "The only thing is I don't know who I would ever get rid of. We were talking about that the other day. I couldn't pick anybody."

Added junior distance freestyler Ali Siggard: "Personalities that come up, they add to the team. They support the team. Everybody adds something."

Brighton's girls squad will hope its increased depth can help overcome the loss of star Ana Agy, who has moved on to the University of Arizona. Agy was the 2006 5A girls Swimmer of the Year and was a staple in the Bengals' program for several seasons.

"You never replace somebody like that, but one of the things you can do is learn to work together a little bit more without somebody like that," said Etherington. "She was so good. At times, she bailed us out when maybe we shouldn't have been bailed out on relays and so on. I've noticed a little different attitude with the girls working together.

"Everybody has to depend on everybody else. Really, that's what it should be all about anyway."

As Etherington pointed out, Brighton doesn't really have any bona fide stars right now, which is fine with him. The closest thing to a star is Siggard. She finished second in the 200-yard free and 500 free at state, and she's the front-runner to win both events this year.

"I just try to pull my weight and help everybody else out as much as possible," she said.

So far, things look fairly good for Brighton. It struggled to put things together during its opening two dual meets but swam vastly better three weeks ago at the Greg Fernley Invitational in St. George. The prestigious invitational features virtually all the statewide contenders from 5A except Skyline.