Ink or swim: DeLand High School swimming coaches get tattoos to honor tradition, team unity
DELAND — Jeanne Jendrzejewski drew it just as she has thousands of times in the last 55 years.
Before every swim meet, her DeLand Bulldogs line up to get the “J Fish.” Jendrzejewski, a longtime girls coach in Louisiana and at DeLand, sketches a simple fish onto their skin with a Sharpie marker. The swimmers believe it’s good luck.
But earlier this summer, she drew the J Fish on a piece of paper, and DeLand boys swim coach, Kati Kaye, sent it to a tattoo artist.
“For years, she’s said to me, ‘I want to get this tattooed, I want to get this tattooed,’” Kaye said. “And I didn’t really take her seriously. But this year, she was much, much, much more insistent.”
Yes, it was time, Jendrzejewski decided.
Kaye suggested they go together, and so they did. Kaye had gotten tattoos before. This would be Jendrzejewski’s first.
They went to Always Anchored Tattoo in DeLand. When they arrived, the artist had turned the J Fish sketch into an elaborate creature with fins and colors.
“We went, ‘No, we want this!’” Jendrzejewski said, referring to her usual design.
She got the J Fish wearing a sombrero — she’s taught Spanish for more than 50 years — on her right forearm. Kaye opted for three J Fish with the words “just keep swimming” above them on her right ankle.
Overall, the experience took about 90 minutes.
“It was fun,” Jendrzejewski, 75, said. “I thought it was going to hurt. It didn’t.”
Now, she wants more ink, which makes Kaye laugh. Jendrzejewski plans to add color to the sombrero and either a few words or waves underneath the fish.
Jendrzejewski and Kaye have shared a bond for nearly a decade. Nine years ago, Kaye was coaching her West Volusia Killer Whales club team, which the majority of the Bulldogs swim for in the high school offseason. Jendrzejewski sent her swimmers to a Killer Whales practice to recruit Kaye to come to DeLand.
They’ve been coaching partners ever since.
“It’s completely a friendship,” Kaye said. “We rely on each other. We support each other. She’s the head coach of the girls. I’m the head coach of the boys. But we collaborate on all of our decisions.”
They’ve certainly done well together.
Last year, DeLand’s boys and girls won the Five Star Conference meet, marking the first time they secured Volusia-Flagler supremacy during the same season. The boys have been undefeated the past two seasons, and the girls went undefeated in 2022.
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At one of the Bulldogs’ first practices this month, Kaye and Jendrzejewski revealed the matching tattoos to the team. They arranged a competition, splitting each class (freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors) into its own group and having them come up with a cheer. The coaches formed their own squad, too, and showed the art when it was their turn.
“That’s pretty funny,” senior Carlos Mize said. “I really wasn’t expecting them to get matching tattoos. I think coach Kati has a couple, but I wasn’t expecting coach J to get any. That was crazy.”
“J has been my teacher in Spanish for four years now,” senior Gavin Brown said. “So, for her to get a tattoo, no one in that class would’ve ever bet a million dollars on it. Everyone was going crazy for it. We never would’ve expected it.”
Who knows? There could be more in the future. But one thing is for sure, the coaches said.
“The cutest was, we were getting the tattoo,” Kaye said, “and she’s like, ‘You know this means were bonded for life.’”
“We are!” Jendrzejewski said.
“So now we’re bonded for life,” Kaye said.
DeLand boys team has huge sophomore ‘class to watch out for’
Out of 24 swimmers on the boys team, three are seniors. Only two are juniors. But 12 sophomores make up half the roster. And that class has a different feel than its freshman campaign.
“That’s the class to watch out for,” Kaye said. “They know what to expect. They came back so different this year.”
She laughed.
“I mean, it was a struggle when they were all freshmen last year. I wanted to pull my hair out. But a year and some growth and some understanding and some maturity really did change it. They came back focused and knowing what they need to do, and they’re doing it.”
The Bulldogs graduated two seniors from their 2022 squad but lost three state-qualifiers, the Mules brothers, who moved to Fort Pierce earlier this summer.
Their goals haven’t shifted, though, especially after the past two undefeated seasons. They finished fifth, the highest by a Volusia County program, at the 4A District 3 meet last fall.
“We’re not pretending it’s not there,” Brown said. “We’re always thinking about Five Star, Record Breaker, the next big meet. It’s better to have a goal in mind, so you hit those times and feel good when you realize you’re putting it toward something.”
He and Mize serve as the senior captains. Mize also was named a captain last year.
“As it looks right now, with everybody dropping times, we’re looking really strong again this year,” Mize said. “We’re looking like we’re going to go undefeated again, win Five Star again, place at districts, hopefully.”
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DeLand girls looking to build on undefeated season
Last year, the girls tasted the same success the boys had in 2021. They breezed through the regular season without a loss and claimed the Five Star title for the first time under Jendrzejewski. They also placed fifth at the district championships.
“We have a legacy now,” Jendrzejewski said. “The year before, only the boys won Five Star. Then, the girls and the boys won Five Star. The boys are still strong, and the girls can be just as strong. So we would like to win again.”
“It’s a big deal,” senior Kayla Detter said. “We talk about it a lot.”
Detter and junior Hayley Luznar are captains on the 21-swimmer squad.
And maybe those thoughts and talks of past triumphs put a little more pressure on the swimmers. But junior Raven Canaba said it also sets the tone.
Like the boys, the girls feature a younger roster, also heavy on sophomores and freshmen. The upperclassmen know they’re being counted on as leaders.
“I definitely think (the focus) this year is technique and then going in with a positive mindset,” Luznar said. “During practice, we have our board up there that says ‘DeLand Bulldogs undefeated.’ We want to do that again. I think everyone is pretty focused on it.”
“Really, (the coaches) are just like, ‘Keep a positive mindset.’ We’re trying to build a team up together.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: DeLand High swimming coaches have matching tattoos, talented teams
