SAN CLEMENTE – Out of the pool, Kris Moore floated in an unfamiliar place. Kicked off the swim team his junior year, Moore was away from the sport for the first time since his first strokes in Lake Powell in Arizona.
That day, as a youngster and before his family moved here when he was 6, his sister Jessica set her little brother's ripple effect into motion. Insisting to their parents that she teach Kris and not some swim instructor, Jessica and Kris were out on the boat together, Kris unaware of what his immediate future held.
“She threw me out of a boat once,” he said. “She said if you want to make it start swimming. In a way, I was meant to swim. I knew what to do. She was amazed.
“She would have saved me. We have the same mentality. She's strong. She wouldn't have quit until she taught me. That's how I got into swimming.”
After leaving Arizona, Moore joined the Mission Viejo Nadadores. He swam there for 9 years, and went through 'zones with the Nadadores.
“Then high school came around,” Moore said. “I was pretty prepared to give it my all.”
Then the fallout happened in 11 thgrade and Moore was removed from the team. It was the first time he could recall not swimming. It ate at him, but there was no possibility of a return that season.
“We were real disappointed for him,” his mom, Lori, said. “It was part of his life after all those years. We still followed what was going on. But we felt bad for him.
“It's like he wasn't communicating with his friends. He had no place to go.”
In some ways alone, Moore learned much about himself during his time away from the pool. Two important conclusions were reached. First, he missed/loved swimming, and second, he didn't necessarily like what he was doing without it.
There was a simple solution to cure both. Start swimming again. Moore knew he had the support of his family.
“When he's in swimming,” Lori said, “he's better overall at everything. His attitude, his schoolwork. I notice a big difference with him in swimming.”
But would Moore be allowed to return to the team? It became a possibility for his final season after a new swim coach was named, Hugh Batten.
“He (Kris) spoke about it (returning),” Lori said. “We talked to the counselor about it. He said clear it through the new swim coach. Batten said it was a great idea.”
It was an easy decision for Batten, he said. He knew little of Moore and even less about what happened.
“In a manner of speaking, he was a clean slate,” Batten said. “It wasn't until he was on the team for awhile that I knew he had had this confrontation.
“We didn't have any confrontations. He worked hard. He was serious about the sport. He wasn't afraid to set high goals.”
Both Batten and Moore agreed that Moore's maturing while away helped in and out the pool. It was that time off that allowed Moore to refocus. He looked forward to practicing again. He felt re-motivated, re-energized. He would visualize himself swimming well. As Moore said, “he wouldn't let anything stand in his way.”
“The truth is, Batten got me back in it,” Moore said. “Once I was back in the pool, I fell back in love. Every coach but one did not make swimming fun. It was always go faster. Batten made it fun. He believed in me. He got me amped. I have him to thank.”
Though back in the water, Moore was hardly back in shape. He was barely able to swim a 200 freestyle without it “killing him.” But before long his work ethic paid off. He was named team captain and soon his times began dropping.
“He enjoys swimming,” Lori said. “We were so happy to see him get back into meets.”
Moore comes from a family of swimmers. His aunt swam in the Olympics. So dropping times was one thing, winning races was another. Those competitive juices began driving him.
“When I was practicing, it kind of hit me,” Moore said. “I can't stand losing and I was getting beat by these other guys.”
By the league meets, Moore was performing well again, often taking first in his 100 backstroke and butterfly races. But his full re-emergence didn't happen until South Coast League finals at the Marguerite Aquatics Center, where Moore “swam his first lap,” the training site of the Nadadores.
Moore captured first in the butterfly, becoming the Tritons' only South Coast champ that afternoon. He also took second place in the backstroke, qualifying him for CIF prelims in both events. He didn't stop at prelims, qualifying for finals. At finals, Moore's run continued, as he moved on to Masters in both races.
“It was exciting to see that,” Batten said. “There's nothing more exciting than a young person attaining lofty goals. He gave it a strong effort and he got satisfying results.”
Not all the story lies in the results, though they are hard to overlook. Times drive swimmers and Moore can't help but to think about the missed season, the missed training and what would have been.
“I regret it,” he said. “I always tell my family I don't know what the times would be. Colleges really look at your junior year. At the time, it wasn't my motivation. Now I look back and ….”
It's likely Moore will attend Saddleback College before looking to transfer. In any case, he said he would like to become a firefighter. Ironically, it was a rekindling of a different flame that fueled Moore's passion once more, maybe saving another young wildfire from burning out of control.
Would Moore have ended up somewhere different had he swam his junior season? Most likely. But would Moore have gained what he did without missing that year? Most likely not.
“Now, I'm just in the pool for myself,” he said. “I'm trying to enjoy life. Especially after losing focus on a couple things in my life. I'm back in the pool and my life's on track.”
Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com or 949-492-3943
