More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
AIR FORCE ACADEMY – Dealing with adversity is a concept Cherry Creek High School’s Sam Coffman knows all too well.
The talented senior missed his entire junior season while recovering from rotator cuff surgery on his right shoulder.
“It was awful,” the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Coffman said. “I forgot how to swim and it was very, very tedious work and very annoying at the same time. I had no strength and I could barely go through the water.”
Coffman is back and better than ever, and he’s trying to win his inaugural Class 5A state swimming titles in the 100-yard and 200 freestyle events.
Coffman took a big step toward reaching the state pinnacle Friday as he qualified No. 1 in the 100 free (45.64 seconds) and 200 free (1:40.21) at the Class 5A swim and dive state championships at the Air Force Academy.
Diving prelims begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and the finals in all events start at 2 p.m.
The road back to competitive swimming wasn’t easy, but despite his struggles, Coffman wasn’t about to quit.
“I told myself that I was going to get better and better each day,” Coffman, who had surgery in the spring of 2014 on his rotator cuff. “Every day I gave myself a new goal. I was going to do another dive off the block or another push-up, whatever it may be. I kept putting the work in and I was finally able to get back in the pool and nothing compares to high school (swimming).”
Coffman was seeded No. 1 in the 200 freestyle and No. 2 in the 100 free behind Boulder’s Christian Feiler. Feiler was second in 100 free prelims at 46.07 seconds.
More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Coffman also swims the anchor legs on Creek’s 200 free and 400 free relays.
“The plan for (Saturday) is stick with my team and cheer them on as loud as I possibly can,” Coffman said. “When it comes to be my turn, I hope the team does the same thing for me. It would mean quite a lot (to win an individual state title). Anyone coming back from an injury who can win an individual state event would be very, very proud.”
Jerry Ma, a fellow Creek senior, praised his teammate Coffman.
“I’ve swam with Sam for four years and he’s been one of my best friends,” Ma said. “Since his freshman year I’ve continued to see him grow and this year he has really stepped up as a team leader for us. He represents Cherry Creek really well in and out of the water. He’s a great guy. One of my vivid memories of Sam was last yearwhen he couldn’t swim because of his injury, but he was still at every practice cheering the team on. He was standing there with the coaches and helping kids with their form. He was still very involved even though he couldn’t be in the water.”
In the team chase, Regis Jesuit High School, is the squad to beat Saturday
The Raiders have won 20 state championships, and the last four have been in a row. All of Regis’ state crowns have come since 1992.
No matter what unfolds for Coffman Saturday, his future is set as he has signed to swim for the University of Missouri.
“I’m very, very excited to go and swim for Missouri,” Coffman said. “The goal I have is that they can get me to my final step in swimming which is one day swimming on the U.S. Olympic team and winning gold.”