From left, Marvin Johnson '25, Coach Stan Corcoran and Nelson Denny '25
It is an early August afternoon and 16-year-old sophomore Nelson Denny, a swimming sensation from Jamaica, is discussing his new home at McCallie School.
"Lots of hills here," he says. "This campus is huge. My legs are cramping up from walking so much."
Fortunately for Denny, the surface of a swimming pool is flat. No racing upstream. So when veteran Blue Tornado swim coach Stan Corcoran accompanies Denny and fellow sophomore swimmer Marvin Johnson, a Bahamas native who is beginning his second year at McCallie, to the World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru on Aug. 30-Sept. 4, he expects both to have their moments.
"I've only had a chance to coach Nelson for a couple of weeks, but his strokes look really good and he's really embraced training," said Corcoran before the trio left town. "As for Marvin, he's been a hard worker since he got here last year. I'm really excited to see what they'll do against this competition."
The arrival of the Caribbean Kids – Bahama native Caden Wells is another McCallie sophomore who's shown tremendous skill in breaststroke – began with Johnson seeing a USA Swimming video of Corcoran with former McCallie, Michigan and Olympic distance swimmer Sean Ryan.
"I was at home after COVID," said Johnson. "Lots of my training had stopped. The world stopped. It seemed like McCallie would be the perfect fit. I sent in my application. Got accepted. The rest is history."
A year later, Denny became similarly impressed with Corcoran's coaching style.
"I really liked how the program was run," he said. "I thought they could really help me get better."
Johnson admits it wasn't smooth sailing in the beginning. Used to swimming around 5,000 yards a day in training, Corcoran was demanding 6,400. He also said, "Not having your mom and dad can be tough. I was missing home."
The workouts have been a similar eye-opener for Denny, who's gone from around 4,000 yards a practice in Jamaica to between 5,500 and 6,000.
"And the pool very cold," said Denny with a smile. "Swimming takes up so much time. It's hard. But I'm doing what I love."
Johnson noted the worth of being surrounded by other talented swimmers each day in practice.
"I was suddenly in a training pool of fast guys," he said. "You can't help but get better."
Such hard work has them slotted for a handful of events each at the Junior Worlds and they're likely to swim against each other more than once. Denny is entered in the 50- and 100-meter backstroke and 50, 100, and 200-meter free. Johnson will compete in those same three freestyle races as well as the 50- and 100-meter butterfly.
Said Denny of Johnson: "He's a little faster than me right now."
Either or both of them may eventually go against one of the most exciting and fastest talents to hit the water since Michael Phelps in the 100-meter free, where 17-year-old Romanian world record holder David Popovici is all but certain to steal the show.
Popovici, who calls himself "Chlorine Daddy," recently broke the 13-year-old record of Bazil's Cesar Cielo at the European Championships in Rome, topping Cielo's mark of 46.91 with a mark of 46.86. That achievement made him the youngest man since Phelps in 2003 to break an individual world record in an Olympic swimming event.
"We may be looking at one of the greatest high school athletes in the history of the world," said Corcoran. "Right behind LeBron James and Tiger Woods. You just don't break a 13-year-old world record by five-hundredths of a second when you're 17. No offense to our guys, but we're not winning any of the races he's in."
Perhaps not, but Johnson's already shaved five seconds off his 100-meter butterfly time, going from 1:01 to 56 seconds, which is pretty impressive in its own right.
But coming to McCallie isn't only about swimming for either young man.
"Chattanooga's a nice place," Denny said. "I've already been to a bowling alley. I'm excited to take biology, but I'm dreading Spanish. I think school is harder here."
Having been on campus for a year, Johnson said of the academic curriculum, including biology, "I really like the sciences. (The academics) are really good. But it's been a big change."
He's also quickly embraced his English courses, saying, "I really enjoy writing."
Then, of course, there's the American cuisine, everything from the "cheeseburger quesadillas at Cook Out" to "Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A. I really like the food here."
They both admit they still miss their native countries at times.
"I like to party with friends ... kid-rated partying," said Denny.
"I miss going to the beach, training outdoors,I just miss home," added Johnson.
But they've also found a new home on the Ridge right down to McCallie's primary school color.
"I've been surrounded by Blue all my life," said Denny. "The blue water of the ocean. Blue Mountain is the biggest mountain in Jamaica. So I like all the Blue."
And partly because of the Caribbean Kids joining the Blue Tornado swim team, McCallie should be leaving a lot of its opponents feeling blue for at least the next three winters.