For decades, any boys who wanted to swim for Ferndale High School had to do so with another high school. They’d don Golden Eagles swim caps, but every practice, meet and even team dinner was done with another local high school – most recently, Squalicum. 

But this winter, possibly for the first time in Golden Eagles history, that changes. With 19 swimmers, the FHS boys’ swim team is now large enough to be an entirely separate squad.  

“Swimming is of my favorite pastimes, and it’s nice to do it with more people on your side,” said sophomore Markus Little, who swims the breaststroke and freestyle events. “It feels like a real team.” 

“When we were swimming with Squalicum, it was mostly centered around Bellingham,” added senior Kaden Grumbles, who swims the 100-meter backstroke and breaststroke. “It’s nice to have it all centered around Ferndale.” 

Julia Landon, who coaches both boys’ and girls’ swim for Ferndale, said it was difficult to get students to join, as Ferndale doesn’t have a pool in city limits and there was no district transportation to the practice pool at the Bellingham YMCA. Hence, why the boys’ swim team only had one participant as recently as 2010.

But over the past decade or so, momentum has grown as students, staff and local families have spread the word, Landon said.

“A lot of people didn’t realize that we had a boys’ swim team,” she said. “But you have one person with a good experience, and that just snowballs, and you get a team of this size – it’s amazing!” 

Landon had another theory as to why her team grew: it’s a great way for students who do fall or spring sports to stay in shape. 

“If you do cross country or track, swimming is a great way to stay conditioned in the wintertime,” she said. 

Randy Elsner, a math teacher at Vista Middle School and Squalicum High’s swim coach, noticed the number of Ferndale boys’ swimmers grew nearly every year. Last year, when there were 12 boys, he began talking with FHS’ athletic department about Ferndale having a separate squad. 

Elsner – who grew up swimming for Nooksack Valley High School and had to tag along with Lynden’s team – knows that having a full swim team can make a huge cultural difference. 

“If it’s just one or two of you, you can’t easily do a team cheer before meets, you have to almost cheer for another school,” he said. “You want to represent the school you go to.” 

Landon agreed.

“When you go to a swim meet, it’s way more exciting when you have more people on your team, versus only four or five people,” she said. 

Senior Samuel McAllister, who swims multiple freestyle events for the Golden Eagles, said he already has noticed the difference in practice. 

“I like it a lot better,” he said. “It seems like we’re more of a team.” 

The boys’ swim team will hold home meets at the Forge Fitness pool in Lynden. Their first meet is at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 – a relay invitational versus all three Bellingham high schools and Lynden High – at Arne Hanna Swim Center in Bellingham.