By AARON MANAGHAN

Sports editor

It’s right back to work for Olympic swim coach Paul Henderson.

While he officially put the wraps on the Trojans girls swimming season with the team banquet Wednesday, he was already back poolside for the start of the boys swim season on Tuesday.

“They practically overlap,” Henderson said. “We’re done with the first week. We just took off running. We were in the water the first day.”

But for Henderson, it’s a transition that never gets old.

Keeping things particularly fresh this year is the fact Olympic turned out 18 swimmers this year, with about a 50-50 split of newcomers and returners.

“There’s still some stragglers and some are not positive they’ll stick with it,” he said. “But I think most will stick with it.”

That’s created a mix of skill levels that Henderson, along with assistant coach Patti Matthew, have begun to evaluate.

“Some folks kind of know what they’re doing and there’s some folks that are kind of new,” Henderson said. “We have five that are kind of newer. Patti’s been working really hard with them. In just three days of practice they’ve come so far.”

That’s given Henderson a feeling to the start of the season he’s not experienced before.

“It’s kind of a clean slate it feels like,” he said. “It’s gonna be fun to watch this group. They’re a fun group of guys. I can already see the camaraderie.”

Leading the charge back into the water this year is the tandem of John Wojtech and Colton Kohnke.

“(John) was a freshman last year and was really good,” Henderson said. “He went to the second day of districts. And he’s grown a little bit.

“(Colton)’s a big, tall guy. We had practice (Thursday) and he was swimming amazing times off the wall.”

But Henderson said they won’t be alone at the front of the Oly pack.

“Those are the faster two,” he said. “But they’re not the only ones.”

Also back are swimmers like Tyler Bass, a distance specialist for Oly, and Peter Duane. Both Duane and Wojtech also ran cross country this fall, while Kohnke was a tennis player.

“It’s interesting looking down the list,” Henderson said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that play multiple sports. It’s a good group. John Wojtech and Peter Duane got their friends. So it is nice. We have that mix.”

Once again, with a low Klahowya turnout, the Eagles will join forces with Olympic. Klahowya’s only swimmers this year are Justin Kirchner and Joey Chapman.

Henderson said in order to integrate the Eagles more into the team, they’ll go on road trips with Oly this season. Last year, Klahowya swam at all Oly and Central Kitsap home meets.

“Last year, they did all home meets,” Henderson said. “This year they’re going to travel. They’ll be able to develop more bonds on the road that they may not have been able to last year.”

With numbers up for most programs locally, Henderson said aside from Olympic League powerhouses Peninsula, it’s anyones race to win.

“I think it’s gonna be an interesting year,” he said. “I’ve been talking to CK, their numbers are up. I talked to Bremerton and it sounds like their numbers are up. It feels like it may be wide open except for Peninsula.”

But no matter what happens, Henderson said he could already tell his group is working hard.

“The kids are dedicated and starting off on the right foot,” he said. “Or the right fin. Whatever.”

Olympic opens the new season with a Dec. 4 road trip to Bremerton at 3 p.m. at the Jarstad Aquatic Center.