Brighton is working to reclaim top spot

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — You don't have to remind Brighton about its immense swimming history.

For all of Skyline's recent success, there isn't any question about who set the standard of prep swimming in Utah.

Under the direction of legendary coach Russ Lauber, the Bengals piled up an astonishing 20 straight girls titles from 1982 to 2001. And on the boys side, they won 13 of 14 championships between 1983 and 1996.

During coach Todd Etherington's seasons as Brighton's coach, the Bengals haven't exactly faded into obscurity. Even with a shrinking talent pool, Brighton has still registered solid, if unspectacular finishes over the past several seasons.

Those finishes would be gleefully accepted by the vast majority of prep schools in Utah, but not Brighton.

Having watched Skyline rise to the top of Utah swimming since the new millennium, the Bengals would like nothing more than to knock the Eagles off their pedestal and reclaim the top spot of the prep swimming world.

"We would love it," senior Bryan VanLeeuwen said when asked what it would mean to win a state title. "It would be the most exciting thing."

This season, there seems to be renewed optimism about Brighton's swim program.

"There's a lot of team energy," said VanLeeuwen. "We're progressing well and we feel a lot better this year."

One of the reasons for that newfound karma is thatfor the first time in several seasons, Brighton will contend for top honors on both sides.

It seems like the boys and girls teams have alternated between successful seasons and struggling ones since 2000, but both of them are strong this year.

"To have competition among the two teams," said Etherington, "is awesome. And we need (that strength) to be competitive with Skyline and Kearns. Skyline is the standard."

Individually, star swimmer Ana Agy returns for her senior season.

She returns as the defending champion in the 100-yard backstroke, and her battles with University of Utah swimmer Jennifer Fredsall in the 100 butterfly during her first three seasons have become legendary.

Fredsall, who was the Swimmer of the Year in 2004, graduated from Kearns before moving on to Utah. Fredsall pipped Agy to the butterfly championship in each of their three state title meetings.

"It's going to be different for me with out her here," said Agy.