Jamestown Community College swimming coach Todd Conklin is already looking forward to next season after the women’s team won last month’s NJCAA Non-Scholarship championship and the men’s team finished second. Submitted photo

A whirlwind COVID-19-delayed season in the books, Jamestown Community College swimming coach Todd Conklin has barely had a chance to take a step back and breathe.

Just weeks after a history-making trip to Florida, he’s already on to next season.

“We’re on to the offseason. We’re going to have to wait a couple of more weeks and see if we can get back in the pool,” Conklin said recently. “Giving the kids a couple of weeks off is never a bad thing to get through finals.”

Conklin was chosen to lead the Jayhawks’ reintroduction to the pool after three years away in December of 2019, but the coronavirus had other ideas.

Swimming was delayed until the spring semester and only two other NJCAA Region 3 programs decided to join the competition.

Jamestown CC made efficient work of both Erie CC and Genesee CC on its way to Western New York Athletic Conference championships for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Then it was on to Indian River State College for nationals, a relative unknown to Conklin with only a few months of collegiate coaching experience.

It turns out inexperience didn’t affect Conklin — or his swimmers — who earned the women’s Non-Scholarship title in Florida.

Panama graduate Karianne Yuchnitz won a national title in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.94 seconds.

Six Jayhawk women earned a combined 24 All-American medals en route to a fourth-place finish overall.

The men weren’t far behind.

Despite just a team of five swimmers, the Jayhawks finished second among non-scholarship programs and eighth overall.

The experience was such a positive one for Conklin, he wants Jamestown CC competing for national titles every year.

“It’s the kids, it’s my assistant coaches, it’s (athletic director) George Sisson and everybody that helped get this program back going that deserves as much credit as I do,” Conklin said. “George has worked his tail off this year to make sure we were able to participate in swimming, basketball, baseball, softball, golf. … To have no pauses in anything shows how well Jamestown CC and George did to see this through without any problems.”

The 2021 spring season did not count as a year of eligibility for any swimmer at the NJCAA level, meaning every Jayhawk can return in the fall if they choose.

“It definitely depends on who you are discussing. A lot of these kids whether it’s one- or two-year, a lot don’t know what they really want to do. It’s important to stay at the JUCO level, save some money. … I know they are only going to get better,” Conklin said. “The better they get, the more opportunities that will open up. As we get down the road, we can give these kids some nice options as far as (NCAA) DIII, DII or DI opportunities.”

That isn’t as easy at the two-year level where academics become more of an influence on student-athletes to “graduate” to the next level.

“I relate it to high school. Every year is a new year and every year you have new kids because you are always losing kids,” Conklin said. “At four-year (schools) you get to keep them around more than in the JUCO world. Hopefully we’ll keep some of these kids for a second year and some of them even for a third year.”

Either way, Conklin hopes to have a strong recruiting class locally and internationally on both the men’s and women’s side.

“This group of kids, I think a majority will be back,” Conklin said. “I think that will give us better practices, better meets and better preparation for next year.

“We went into that national championship blind. I thought we’d be competitive and we were. Bringing home the non-scholarship title and (men’s) runnerup was a great start. I feel like we have more growth for sure,” Conklin added. “If a majority returns with the additional kids coming and a couple more we’re trying to get, I feel we’ll continue to get noticed and keep going with this program.”

Jamestown CC’s administration, athletics department and Conklin himself would love to have a more complete swimming and diving roster next season.

“Realistically, my goal at least this year is 10 women and 10 men. That would put us in a good spot,” Conklin said. “If I could fill a roster of 12 to 14 on both sides, that would be wonderful for the college and give us many opportunities and angles to approach meets.”

If that is the case, it just might help the Jayhawks make up the points they missed out on at last month’s national championships to move them up the overall standings toward an NJCAA championship.

“I feel like if I’m at 10 and 10 … or more, we will continue to be one of the strong teams in nonscholarship (competition) and fight to win that thing.

“As a coach, that’s my ultimate goal. That’s not something that happens every day, but it’s an exciting experience,” Conklin added. “It’s been great to get back here and have everyone congratulate myself and the kids.”