By Andy Ross.
A lot of swimmers have good luck charms or pre-race rituals. Caeleb Dressel has his bandana, Sierra Schmidt has her dance routine and Zach Harting has his gas can. For North Carolina commit Harry Homans, his good luck charm is his collection of Hawaiian shirts.
Most swimmers wear whatever is comfortable on deck and behind the blocks, whether it’s a weight room shirt, athletic shorts and running shoes, swimmers are generally seen wearing the same thing on deck. For Bluefish Swim Club’s Harry Homans, he sports a colorful Hawaiian shirt behind the blocks, something seldom seen on any pool deck, even in a tropical place like Southern California.
It is a tradition that 18-year-old Homans started last summer at his LSC Championship meet.
“I walked out with a Hawaiian shirt for the first time and I was like, ‘yeah this looks cool,’ so I kept doing it,” he said after the 200 fly final on the first night of the Speedo Junior Nationals in Irvine. “All my friends loved it.”
“I bought this at a thrift store for 10 dollars,” he said explaining the shirt he was wearing. “Yes, obviously bargaining plus style.”
Homans said he has three total Hawaiian shirts that he brought to Irvine this week. As for specifics, he said each event doesn’t have a specific shirt, he just wore that particular shirt for the 200 fly because his roommate suggested it.
Homans’ good luck charm obviously paid off for him on Tuesday night in Irvine as he was able to hold on to win the 200 fly final with a 2:00.29, dropping a second off his morning swim (2:01.24). Homans came into the meet with a 2:03.57 from the Mel Zajac meet in early June.
“I wasn’t really expecting a 2:00,” Homans said. “When I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the “1” it was just a rush of emotions, it was awesome.”
Homans won his first national title in the 200 fly, but said before this meet the 200 back was his best event. He did not swim the 200 fly last week at the Senior Nationals to focus on being fully rested for the 200 back, and to put more emphasis on the IM events. He decided to do the 200 fly this week to “have a better chance at making it back.”
Winning the event exceeded his expectations.
“I struggled with my 200 fly in the past few years,” he said.
As for the rest of the week, Homans said he will do the 200 and 100 back, 200 free and the 200 IM. Homans scratched out of the 400 IM to focus on the 200 back and avoid that double that day.
Homans has already showed he is ready to go this meet and the Hawaiian shirts have shown they are working dividends for his confidence. And who knows, maybe he will be debuting a new shirt sometime in the future.