Greely junior Brady Fluet is competing in two high school sports this winter – swimming and indoor track – and also swimming for his club team, the Southern Maine Aquatic Club. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Brady Fluet is a busy guy. A junior at Greely High in Cumberland, Fluet is preparing for two state championship meets. On Saturday in Lewiston, he will run in the Class B indoor track state meet. Next Tuesday in Brunswick, he will compete in the Class B swimming and diving championship meet.
Until this winter, Fluet, 16, had never competed for Greely in any sport, focusing instead on swimming year-round with the Southern Maine Aquatic Club. He still swims for his club, but managed to squeeze in track and high school swimming as well.
“Brady’s the hardest-working kid I’ve ever had,” said Greely swim coach Rob Hale. “He doesn’t know idle or neutral. It’s sleeping or he’s in fifth gear, in everything he does.”
At his first North Southwesterns meet Thursday in Cape Elizabeth, Fluet won the 200-yard individual medley, placed second in the 100 breast stroke and helped the Rangers win the concluding 400-yard freestyle relay. His times rank among the top 10 in Class B in all eight individual swimming events. He also qualified for the indoor track state meet at three distances: 800 meters, mile and 2 mile.
We spoke with Fluet before a recent meet.
Q. What prompted you to go from zero sports for Greely to two in the same season?
A. I decided to do high school swimming this year because in previous years, I really didn’t want to leave club swimming, but it was able to work out (for both) this year. And I hopped into a 5K on Thanksgiving Day and it went pretty well. I was up there with cross country runners so they told me I should try (indoor track).
Q. Do you prefer one sport to the other?
A. I have a spot for swimming because I’ve been doing it for a lot longer, but I really like running so far.
Q. What’s a typical day like?
A. On Monday, for example, I get up at 4:20. I leave my house at 4:50 to get to 5:30 practice for club. Then after school I do track and then after track I do high school swim. That’s Mondays and Fridays.
Q. How about your other days?
A. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have two swim (practices) and Wednesdays I have one swim and one track.
Q. Is there time for any other interests?
A. Not really. Those are my interests, what I spend most of my time doing.
Q. How do you like being part of a team, as opposed to the individual focus of club?
A. The high school team is really fun. I made a lot of new friends. I wasn’t that social at school, so I have a lot more friends at school now.
Q. You also do triathlons?
A. That’s one of the reasons I started running.
Q. When did the triathlon bug take hold?
A. This summer, Granite Man (in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire) was my first.
Q. And you won the race, among a field of 160?
A. Yeah, I did. I was aiming for maybe to win my age group, but I won overall.
Q. Have you done any others?
A. I hopped into another one in Camden (the Megunticook Sprint Triathlon) and I also won that. So I’m focusing on triathlon, too, almost three sports, because I do some biking.
Q. Are you planning a spring sport for Greely?
A. I’m contemplating running outdoor track. I’m going to stay with club swimming and I have some triathlons in the spring.
Q. What are the distant components of your triathlons?
A. They’re sprint distance, so 750 meters swim, 12-15 mile bike and a 5K run.
Q. How did you get involved in triathlons?
A. My dad did like 13 Ironman (races). He got me into it a little. He has a lot of knowledge about the sport.
Q. What’s the appeal?
A. I don’t really know. I like swimming and noticed I was naturally decent at running with no training, and I already like to bike. So three things I like and that I’m solid at. I’m enjoying it.
Q. Do you have a favorite swimming event?
A. I like the 200 (individual medley) and the 500 (freestyle), the longer stuff. In club swimming, I do the mile swim.
Q. How long does that take?
A. Sixteen minutes.
Q. You’ve run a mile in less than five minutes. Which is harder, a mile swimming or a mile running?
A. That’s a hard question. I’d say swimming. You’re not only fatiguing but you’ve got to make sure you’re keeping that technique, because it’s critical. It is in running, too, but in swimming, a lot of little things can add up. Every single turn. And it just hurts. You just want to breathe. It’s like you’re encased in the pool.
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