Mississippi Makos counting down to state championship meet

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Mississippi Swimming Long Course State Championship Meet is next weekend in Tupelo, and one team in the Jackson area is looking to continue their era of dominance.

The Mississippi Makos Swim Team has won 11 straight state championships. Starting in February 2017, Makos has returned home at the end of every season with a championship banner to hang in the rafters. The swimmers are experienced in facing the emotions that come along with a meet of this significance, a skill that has developed thanks to that recent success.

“Everyone’s morale is up” said Warner Russ, the top ranked recruit in Mississippi’s men’s class of 2024. “We’re all excited for racing fast.” Rachel McAlpin, the number one recruit in Mississippi’s women’s class of 2026, stated her goals for the meet simply: “It’s state meet, so I’m going to do as best I can and just have fun.”

Senior Group Head Coach Brian Ware emphasizes the importance of having a relaxed and focused approach now in training so that it becomes muscle memory, and thus not a concern, when the swimmers find themselves in a race.

“It’s more about doing everything perfect towards the end [of the season]” Ware explained. “You’ve got to make sure you do all your turns perfectly, that you’re really thinking about your technique, and trying to do everything, like I said, perfect.”

While the team strives for perfection in the pool, Ware’s goals extend beyond the scoresheet.

“It’s good to win and all that, but we’re just really wanting to make sure we’re giving them the environment to swim fast. That’s where the championships come from, creating an environment, a team culture, that everyone wants to be a part of and that encourages fast swimming.”

Ware has succeeded in his goals, as the Makos have produced numerous collegiate athletes, several at the Division-I level, and an Olympic Trials qualifier in 2016, the only team in Mississippi to hold that honor.

Though the state titles and achievements beyond the club level represent the hard work of the program, Ware says it isn’t the wins that motivate him, but seeing his swimmers reach and surpass the goals they set for themselves.

“I get more joy out of seeing them succeed and reaching goals that they didn’t always think were possible. To see them do that and just really learn that if you commit to something and you put in the hard work, anything’s attainable.”

While many of the swimmers will begin their brief summer break after competing at the state level in Tupelo next week, some will continue their seasons at the national level as the summer wraps up.

Just two weeks after fighting for a state championship, Russ will travel to West Fargo, North Dakota to compete in the 2023 USA Swimming Futures Championships. The Futures Championships is an elite level meet that serves as a stepping point for athletes to move between the sectional level to the Junior and Senior National Level, a level Russ has already reached. After racing in West Fargo, he will travel straight to Irvine, California to compete in the 2023 Speedo Junior National Championships, a meet reserved for the best swimmers in the country 18 years of age and younger.

McAlpin has also qualified for Junior Nationals this summer, but rather than joining Russ in North Dakota, she will return to Tupelo July 26-29 in the 2023 Long Course Southern Senior Zones Championship, a meet that attracts top talent from the southern United States. McAlpin said she’s looking forward to racing against ‘some pretty fast people’ from all ages who she’s never met before.

Coach Ware founded the Mississippi Makos Swim Team in 1991. He’s enjoyed watching the growth of the athletes as well as the program. “To see [Makos] grow into the regional powerhouse that it’s become and the state championships, it makes me feel really good that we’ve established something that truly helps kids in the Jackson metro area improve as people.”

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