Hank Williams Jr. had a smash hit song back in 1979 about a certain kind of “Family Tradition.”
While the country music singer related to the wild life, Winder-Barrow High School’s Alex Hentenaar knows about a different kind of “family tradition.” For Hentenaar, the tradition centers around a swimming pool and being one of the top athletes for the WBHS Swim Doggs.
“Alex is an amazing young man,” said WBHS coach Jennifer Blevins. “He comes from a large family including older sister Caitlin; older brother Billy and then younger brother, Ian. Caitlin and Billy are both students at the University of Georgia with Billy being a member of the Red Coat band. Both Caitlin and Billy swam for me when they were at Winder-Barrow and Ian will be with us next year. Needless to say, I will have 13 years of coaching all of the Hentenaar children. They are a great group of kids and I would not trade them for anything.”
Alex had to follow in his brother’s footsteps and help lead Ian into high school.
“Billy was the first Hentenaar to qualify for state, but did so in a relay.” Blevins said.
“He was part of the first state qualifying relays for Winder-Barrow. Alex, however, is getting several firsts of his own.”
Alex is the first family member to qualify for the state meet in an individual event.
He also owns the school record in the 500 freestyle event. Alex is also the first male WBHS swimmer to qualify for state in the 500 freestyle and the first Swim Dogg to qualify for the scoring finals at the coveted Metro Atlanta Championships and earn two points for the team. During the course of the season, Alex has dropped his time in the 500 freestyle from a 5:49.38 on Dec. 11, 2011, to a 5:13.12 on
Jan. 27.
“I look for him to get under 5:00 before he graduates,” Blevins said. “His work ethic and devotion to constantly improve himself is a testament to the results he has been getting. I could not be more proud of everything Alex has accomplished this season and look forward to having him on the team for two more years.”
Alex goes into the state meet ranked 27th and is 12 seconds from the top 16.
“I expect Alex to lower his time even more and have a goal to set for next year,” his coach said. “Dropping a lot of time off the 500 is tough, but I never know what Alex can do. He has dropped 20 seconds off his time during this season alone. I definitely look for him to swim under 5;10 and for him to surprise me with a fabulous time.”
Alex is part of three state qualifying relays including the 200 medley relay (he will swim the butterfly) and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays (he will swim the third leg in both.)
“He stands out from the other swimmers because he does like the distance events,” Blevins said. “He can swim any stroke well and is not afraid to try any event. Swimmers like him are a definite asset to the team. I never hear him complain and he works hard every single practice. Alex not only excels in the pool, but he does so in the classroom and as a citizen. A well rounded student-athlete is what Alex is all about. That makes him a wonder asset and a fabulous example of a team leader.”
