Klamath Union swimmers rose to the occasion Saturday at the annual Henley Freeze at Ella Redkey Municipal Pool, as both the girls and boys teams earned first place in the program’s only hometown meet while showcasing strong preparation and depth across the lineup.
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The Henley Freeze, known for its cold air and colder water, provides KU swimmers a unique advantage, the opportunity to compete in the same outdoor pool where they train daily. For Klamath Union senior Hazel Squibb, that familiarity showed both individually and in the relays.
“It was actually a really good day,” Squibb said. “I felt like the team overall did really good because we’re used to this. I kind of like seeing how everybody else competed, feeling what we kind of have to go through every day at practice.”
Squibb won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 28.9 seconds and placed second in the 100 freestyle at 1:04.44. She also anchored the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, both of which placed first. Those relays hold school records, which Squibb said have been broken multiple times during her KU career.
“I was kind of surprised by the times we actually did get because of how cold it is,” Squibb said. “But we actually all competed really well, and we were pretty close to our personal records.”
Fellow senior Quinlynn Spivey said the atmosphere made the cold worthwhile. Spivey placed fourth in both the 50 free (30.86) and 100 free (1:08.25) and led off both freestyle relays.
“Honestly, this was a really cool meet,” Spivey said. “It was my last home meet, and I had all my friends there. Even though it’s cold, it was a good meet.”
Spivey credited steady improvement across the roster as the season progresses.
“As a team, we’re getting a lot better,” Spivey said. “Every single race, someone is PR’ing or getting really close. Personally, things are finally starting to click this year.”
Klamath Union junior Elly Amos delivered one of the standout individual performances of the meet, winning the 100 butterfly in 1:17.99, improving by more than three seconds, and placing third in the 200 IM. She also swam splits on both winning relays.
“I think the cold maybe pushed people to work harder,” Amos said. “It kind of forces you to focus on what we’ve been training for.”
On the boys’ side, senior Kamron Bouma claimed first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.23 and placed second in the 100 butterfly. He led off both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, which also finished first.
“It’s really stinking cold, and it kind of sucks, which is great,” Bouma said. “Hard things are fun when you get done with them. There’s just a really good community and culture around this event.”
Senior Max Hendricks did nothing but impress in all of his events and capped the day with wins in the 200 free (2:01.82) and 100 backstroke (1:02.28), while anchoring both winning relays.
Hendricks has already established himself as one of KU swimming’s top performers, with school records and ambitious goals driving his training. In past seasons, Hendricks broke the school record in the 200 freestyle, lowering the mark to 1:53.95, and reset the 100 backstroke record with a time of 1:00.54.
Hendricks was also part of record-breaking performances in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, helping drop each mark significantly.
“I definitely want to hit PRs for those and break new school records,” Hendricks said. “Ideally, I want a 1:49 in the 200 free and about a 58 in the 100 back. It’ll be difficult, but it’s doable with the work we’re putting in.”
Hendricks said chasing record times comes down to refining the smallest details, especially as improvements are measured in fractions of a second.
“When you get to a point where you’re breaking school records and dropping milliseconds at a time, it’s the little things that become massive time droppers,” Hendricks said. “One extra dolphin kick off the wall, better underwaters, better tempo, all of that adds up. For me, pushing that third 50 in the 200 free is where I know I can drop the most time.”
As the season continues toward districts and state competitions, Saturday’s meet served as both a celebration of senior leadership and a reminder of KU swimming’s depth.
“I just want to finish this year feeling like my swim chapter came to a good conclusion,” Squibb said. “I want our team to do really well at districts and hopefully bring a lot of people to state.”
