Bison senior finds niche in butterfly

Gabe Colmenares elected to make a key shift in the fall.

It may be part of the reason the Beachwood senior has been able to shift so effectively in the winter to a discipline that diversifies his postseason aspirations.

Colmenares won 100-yard butterfly Jan. 18 during the Chagrin Valley Conference meet at Hawken, the latest in a string of optimism he has provided in the event.

He won with a time of 54.29 seconds, edging Chagrin Falls standout John Cashy (54.30) at the wall.

Heats were combined, but the meet was scored along the Chagrin and Valley divisions, so Colmenares was Valley champion. He joins an exclusive list of recent Bison boys luminaries to capture CVC meet titles with Spencer Bystrom, the 2019 Division II state diving runner-up who was CVC 100 back champion as a sophomore in 2017, and Bagatur Askaryan, who won 50 freestyle and 100 fly in 2016.

“It was a little bit hard to see because I didn’t catch the beep at the start,” Colmenares said of his duel with Cashy. “I knew I was swimming from behind off the block. And then when I got to the 50 mark, I could see a hint of a splash to the left of me, so I was just powering through, especially on those last two underwaters. I made sure I had full extension to the wall.”

Colmenares didn’t swim individually in fly in the postseason last winter, competing in 50 free and on all three of Beachwood’s relays.

But he has found his niche this season in the event.

At the Viking Invitational before Christmas, Colmenares was a solid fourth with a 52.65 in a strong field featuring three fellow News-Herald coverage area stalwarts in

University’s Frank Applebaum (48.31), Gilmour’s Matt Vanone (52.49) and Hawken’s Connor Brown (52.57). The 52.65 featured a 23.76 to the turn and a 28.89 coming home.

Then in preliminaries at the Northeast Classic on Jan. 11, Colmenares hit a 51.85, which is the secondfastest time in The NewsHerald coverage area in 100 fly this season to Applebaum’s aforementioned 48.31 and was the fastest time of the north prelims held at the University of Akron. That swim was punctuated by a 27.89 closing 50. He later took seventh in the ‘A’ final in Canton with a 52.46.

Colmenares was a D-II individual state qualifer in 2019 in 50 free in addition to relays, but his 100 fly work to date should have him aiming for an ‘A’ final next month.

“A lot of it comes from the fact that this year, I stopped running cross country in the preseason,” Colmenares said. “So I was really able to focus on training and really getting into a zone, like a specific area. I want to win fly, and it’s been turning out great so far.

“One of the main differences is I’ve really been focusing on fly kicks. I think that’s really important on butterfly, because you have the underwaters, especially on the second half, and then how that transitions into the stroke. That’s been a main focus, that and recovery with the arms.”

A main focus for Colmenares as a senior will be returning to Day 2 in Canton. He got a taste of it last winter in a ‘B’ final for 200 medley relay as the Bison took 12th and an ‘A’ final for 200 free relay as he, Spencer Bystrom, Matt Keyerleber and Grady Bystrom took seventh. Spencer Bystrom, Beachwood’s longtime jack-ofall-trades, has graduated, but the trip to the podium worked wonders for instilling confidence.

“I think it’s been really inspirational,” Colmenares said of the 200 free relay podium swim. “Even beyond the younger guys, we have some new faces on this team. It’s important for being able to set higher goals and say like, ‘Hey, we did this last year. We can do this. We can go farther.’

“I think if you look at the times we’ve been going, we’ve been going a lot faster compared to what we were in the season before. It just comes from a really great group of guys coming up this year.”

Colmenares has been coming up fast with his ascension in 100 fly. Cracking 51 should put the senior in ‘A’ final contention, a key shift to the podium individually in addition to relays that he would savor.

‘My coach has been drilling to win the first 25,” Colmenares said. “So I think that drilling the first 25, keep a low stroke on the middle 50 and underwater on the last 25 is going to be the key part.”

Colmenares