The name “Logan Hotchkiss” lines the boys record boards at the Malibu High School (MHS) pool, but another Hotchkiss has his sights set on bringing some of those records down over the next four years.
Logan graduated from MHS last year and has since gone on to swim a successful freshman season at University of California, Santa Barbara. His departure — along with that of four talented seniors who led the Sharks to last year’s second place CIF finish — leaves a hole at the top of the MHS boys swim team, but Logan’s younger brother, freshman Kennan Hotchkiss, is ready to step up to the challenge.
Along with Kennan comes a talented group of incoming freshmen on both the boys and girls squads, many of whom swim year-round with the Malibu Seawolves — a local club team.
Head coach Mike Mulligan said that, with the help of Kennan and returning CIF competitors Everest Brady and Ben Tran, the boys team is still looking to defend their Tri-Valley League title.
“We had some kids who, at the end of the year, were swimming really fast and are swimming faster now than they were last year,” he added. “We also have the addition of Kennan, and Everest was swimming club this past offseason. We’re not going to have the top-end speed we had, but we’ll have some good depth.”
Because most swimmers on the boys team play water polo as well, Mulligan expects the freestyle events to be the squad’s strength.
“Kennan and Everest will be making impacts in the stroke events as well,” he added. “They have a great shot at winning whatever event you put them in.”
On the girls side, returning standouts Annie Armitage and Gaia Hinds will be joined by incoming freshmen Amy Perna and Sorin Moore, both of whom train year-round with the Seawolves.
“Getting Sorin and Amy is a big plus for us because they have club experience,” Mulligan said. “The girls team is looking to improve and do a lot better than they did last year, numbers-wise and talent-wise.”
Mulligan added that the girls team has depth in the backstroke events and will likely have success in the medley relay, since its standout swimmers specialize in each of the four strokes. He also predicts that the girls team’s increase in numbers and talent will carry them to a top-three league finish.
Because many standouts on both the girls and boys teams train with the Seawolves year-round, Mulligan and his swimmers have worked to accommodate for club training during the high school season.
“Our philosophy with our club kids is that they’re getting all the stroke work and practice time they need, so we just let them continue [training] with their club team,” Mulligan said. “They’re putting in so much time, so it doesn’t make sense for them to train double workouts with us and with the club.”
Kennan said his strategy is to attend regular club workouts and practice with the high school team on Fridays.
“I’m going to focus on high school when it’s in season and lay off club meets,” he added.
Moore noted that high school swim meets are much shorter and have fewer events than club meets. Because her favorite event — the 1,650-yard freestyle — is not offered in high school competition, she plans to replace it with the 500-yard freestyle at MHS meets.
Many of the seven MHS seniors who train year-round with Seawolves have been swimming club together for years and agree that their teammates help make the balance between high school and club swimming fun.
“We spend so much time at the pool, so it’s nice to have a group of people you share experiences with on both teams,” Perna said. “They help motivate me to do my best, and they make workouts much more fun and interesting.”
Along with his hopes of high league finishes, Mulligan’s goal for the coming season is for his swimmers to improve and have fun.
“I’d like to see most of varsity make CIF,” Kennan added. “And my personal goal is to bring down Logan’s record.”