Another Natick Perspective

From Bryan King (an old friend of Jim's from Natick):

 

Like many who have written before about Jim, there is no denying what he others like him did for the sport of swimming in the early 80's.  I joined the Natick summer team at age 9, and Jim was already tearing things up.  His brother John and I were the same age, and the rest of the Ehrlich clan was part of that summer team.  As they got older, some kids pursued different teams, with better opportunities.  I could not.  But that didn't mean I lost touch.  I played at the Ehrlich house, in the tennis courts, around the yard, and had fun with everyone.  Summer Swim team parties where 100 kids were running around while the parents hung out inside were some things I could never forget.  And then there was the year we won everything in that summer league.  We won all the meets, the regionals and the Mile Swim.  The Mile Swim is an event still run today in Sherborn where roughly 60 kids swim across and back a pond.  That year Natick went 1,2,3,5,6. (Jim was 2^nd J).  I went to that event and just was so impressed.

 

Then I got to high school.  Again, I was not real good, but could hold my own.  Steve was a senior that year, and Jim was a junior.  John a sophomore.  I was in shock what I was seeing in meets.  And it only got better my junior year.  We won the league for the second time in a row.  And in the states, Natick was sectional runner-up, due to Jim, Steve Ruiter and Lloyd Pierce (who both wrote things already below) John, and a few others.  I was not there.  But I read the articles, and I listened at the banquet to the words of these great swimmers.  If you are from the Natick area, you probably only know of football, and maybe the other bigger sports as getting all of the limelight.  But what happened during that year changed the face of swimming in Natick forever!  In my senior year, when only John was left on the team, I got better, helped out where I could, and we were able to pull off another league title…the last time is has ever happened in Natick history.

 

After that year, we all went our separate ways…and I swam in college.  But in 1990, I had the chance to do something very few ever can say they did, and it was to go back to my high school and coach.  From 1990-1994 I was coaching the Natick Boys, and there were some great swimmers.  In 1991 we had our last meet of the season with Framingham (big rivalry), and we were both tied for first.  I took my team into the High School gym and showed them the banners form the early 80's.  I talked about names such as Shedd, Ruiter, Ehrlich, and Pierce..I told them about tradition, I told them what this meet meant….well, we lost the meet in the last race, but I remember vividly the other coach, who was coaching in the early 80's and still is coaching today tell me, wow, these kids you have swum incredibly, they reminded him of those kids from the early 80's.  It felt nice hearing that.

 

I am still coaching today, and each winter I have kids who go to the Sectionals and States.  Up until two years ago, Jim still had a state record.  Imagine that, 25 years and it had not fallen.  When the young man from BC broke it, I went into the stands.  I talked to him about Jim, and who he was, what he meant to swimming, and what he did for Natick.  This boy (who was a senior in high school) cried.  He said he felt so touched by what he heard, and felt honored to break the record of such a great person.

 

This time is difficult for all involved with Jim I am sure.  My mom still talks about those summers at Dug Pond, and how the parents were so close, and the kids just played so nice together.  But my memories continue to make me smile when I think of the old days, and hope that I can continue some of the traditions of Natick swimming living on forever. 

God Bless you Jimmy, your family and all involved in this difficult time.