Parmenter for the Course

Ryan Parmenter shares more than just a name with one of the top female swimmers in the nation.

Parmenter, who will be a junior at Hart High, has been training with Canyons Aquatics for nearly a decade--the same swimming club where Jennifer Parmenter got her start, winning her first national championship before she moved to Rose Bowl Aquatics last year.

Ryan Parmenter, about four months younger, is in the same year in school and lives less than 15 miles north of Jennifer. And he’s made a name on his own in swimming circles, qualifying for the U.S. Junior Nationals for the second time. His best events are the individual medleys, one of Jennifer’s strongest areas.

“But as far as we can tell, we’re not related,” said Ryan Parmenter’s father, Jon. “[Both families] looked back in the family tree. We can’t find anything that says we’re related.”

Regardless, they do have something else in common: the chance to compete for their country.

Parmenter, who turned 16 last week, is the only junior swimmer from California representing the United States in the World Maccabiah Games in Israel next week. Parmenter will compete in junior competition, which includes the best Jewish 16-and-under swimmers in the world.

The games, held once every four years, bring together 5,000 athletes representing 50 countries. A crowd of 60,000 is expected for the opening ceremonies in Tel Aviv Monday.

Unlike some athletes who have limited, if any, knowledge of the games before they were selected, Parmenter knows the Maccabiah very well.

Looking for another avenue of competition to supplement high school and club swimming, Parmenter entered the Maccabiah two years ago when the regional games were held in Los Angeles. He won 10 gold medals. Last year at the U.S. Maccabiah games in New Jersey, Parmenter won six events.

“I’ve done pretty well, but I don’t want to set my expectations too high,” Parmenter said before leaving for training camp in New Jersey last week. “I have no idea what the level of competition is going to be like.”

Still, Parmenter trained this summer with the Maccabiah Games foremost in his mind. Usually, Parmenter sets his summer training schedule for the Junior Olympics or the Junior Nationals. Instead, Parmenter will taper and shave for the games and hope he holds his fastest times through the Junior Nationals early next month in Fresno.

Instead of taking a traditional week-or-two break following the high school season, Parmenter jumped right back into the pool for more training.

“I don’t care what meet [swimmers] train for as long as it motivates them to do their best,” said Canyons Aquatics Coach Bruce Patmos. “If this is what gets Ryan going, then I don’t have a problem with it.”

Parmenter has been making slow and steady progress since he entered high school, helping the Indians, who had a strong girls’ program, become one of the strongest boys’ teams in Southern Section Division II.

As a freshman, Parmenter finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and qualified for the consolation final in the 500 freestyle at the Division II finals.

Last year, Parmenter was third in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 500 freestyle in the Section finals and helped Hart to the Foothill League title.

Parmenter, along with teammate Anthony Ervin, is part of a group of swimmers at Canyons who have emerged since Jennifer Parmenter left after the Olympic Trials last year.

“There was such an emphasis on Jennifer heading up to the trials, that it might have taken something away from the others,” Patmos said. “Now the group is much more cohesive and improving together.”

Keeping a solid training schedule while abroad isn’t easy for Parmenter, who normally would endure two two-hour workouts a day. After a week of double workouts in New Jersey, Parmenter arrived in Israel early Monday.

He’s limited to a two-hour early-morning workout and spends the rest of the day touring with his teammates. He’s trying to ward off the effects of the 10-hour time difference.

“He’s enjoying himself now with the touring,” said his mother, Wendy, who has talked to Parmenter twice since he arrived in Israel. “But he’s very focused on his swimming and doing well. I worry that he’s too focused. He puts too much pressure on himself sometimes.”

The pressure will be on once the swimming competition gets underway on July 21. Parmenter is one of only six boys on the U.S. team. He will compete mostly in freestyle and individual medley events.

He specializes in the longer races but is strong in any race down to 200 meters. With only six swimmers on the team, he also figures to swim in some relays.

Parmenter will keep busy when he returns from Israel in two weeks. Less than a week after returning, he will be at the Junior Olympics, helping Canyons’ relay teams qualify for the Junior Nationals the following week.

But it all takes a backseat to competing at an international level.

“It started to hit me when I got the suits and bags and they say USA on them,” Parmenter said. “It’s all pretty overwhelming.”