BELLEFONTE — Turner Malik is the only boy on the Bellefonte High School swim team, and for the second straight season, he’s competing alone.
Now in his second year as the team’s sole boy’s swimmer, he continues to show up and compete each week despite racing alone, a challenge that demands focus and perseverance from a high school athlete.
To better understand what that experience has been like, Turner and his mother, Jennifer Malik-Williams, shared their perspectives on the season and his swim career.
Turner said he first learned he would be the only boy on the team near the end of his sophomore season. “I first learned I was going to be the only boy on the team right before states my sophomore year after no eight graders were moving up on the team after the seniors on this team graduated.” He added that the hardest part of the experience has been the lack of support, particularly during practices. “The hardest part would be not having the support especially in practice.”
PIAA regulations restrict him to two events per meet because he is the team’s only boy’s swimmer, even on trips requiring hours of travel. Despite those limitations, he maintains a positive approach, fully participating in practices, and meets with his teammates.
When he was asked how these rules affect him at matches and practices, he had this to say, “At practice it is definitely different with me sitting out while we practice relay races but the biggest thing is I travel around for two hours to get these two events but at those events I am only doing two events and in the water for about 15 minutes.”
Asking both Turner and Jennifer how they feel about the possibility of Bellefonte not having a boys’ team next year, Turner had this to say: “I find it a little sad swimming in high school was really great for me and gave me a sense of a community and I would hate to see that part of Bellefonte swimming go.” Jennifer added, “I think Bellefonte deserves to have a strong boys swim team I think it is a great town and great school district so it just makes me sad that next year there probably will not have a boys swim team.”
Messages left for Bellefonte Area School District Athletic Director Dr. Daniel “Duffy” Besch requesting comment were not returned.
Lastly, when asked what they thought was the importance of speaking out about this now, Turner had this to say: “Swimming has done so much for me personally. I have found a community that is very supportive. Then with the decline of it, especially in Bellefonte, is sad. I have found lots of people I still talk to that I might [not] through swimming and I think losing this would be a huge loss for Bellefonte.” Jennifer added, “Swimming just tries to make you better than you were yesterday and if that is not what we are all hoping for our kids to just strive to be better than you were yesterday, I don’t know what more emphasizes raising kids nowadays than that.”
Even though Turner faces the challenge of being the only boy on the team, he keeps showing up and giving his best. Both he and his mom hope that by speaking out, people will see how important swimming has been to him and the Bellefonte community.
