Many community pools are so jam-packed with children and adults alike trying to cool off in the summer months that there is just simply no place to swim. So where do kids “swim” these days?
Simply put, aquatic club. Nationwide, local aquatic clubs are the place where children of all ages that love the sport of swimming have flocked to by the hundreds.
In the Hatboro-Horsham area, that club is the Hatboro YMCA Hurricanes swim club (HATY), which holds its regular meets at the Hatboro YMCA and has more than 70 members this season. HATY was well represented at the 2011 SPLASH, a group A & B championship qualifying event, hosted by Pennsbury Aquatic Club and held at the College of New Jersey.
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In an event in which coaches and swimmers started arriving as the sun was rising and left as it had set, the true spirit of club swimming emanated throughout the campus all day. Moms and dads and brothers and sisters were in tow to show their support as entrants filed in the doors down the winding hallway past an array of fan wear and swim gear displayed with as vast a variety as the swimmers' personalities.
In one of the largest meets in the east coast, with more than 500 swimmers competing, 40 clubs represented, 72 events and more than 280 heats swam, it’s safe to say that only the very best swimmers made the trek from points in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware to Ewing, N.J. in the pursuit of time fast enough to qualify for the upcoming group A championships held at LaSalle College in Philadelphia.
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HATY has members ranging from ages 6 to 18 and most are from Hatboro, Horsham, Upper Moreland or Abington. “Our kids and parents like coming to this meet because they can enter up to five events if they want to," said HATY coach Jenny DePadua, in her fourth year. “It gives them an opportunity to swim an event that they aren’t able to in our dual meets."
The future looks bright for HATY. Its “youngsters” grabbed their share of first-place finishes in the morning sessions.
9 year-old Gabe Levy bested his seeding time by almost a second to win the Boys 100-yard freestyle and swam a 31.80 heat to win the boys 50-yard freestyle in a field of 40 boys. Levy also finished fourth in the 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard Individual Medley.
Hatboro 10 year-old Ian Palau blistered the field in 50-yard backstroke with a time of 35.30, while also grabbing top five finishes in the 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard breaststroke, 100-yard Individual Medley and 50-yard freestyle. It seemed like 7-year-old Olivia McElrath spent her entire morning in the pool as she battled in 25-yard freestyle, 25-yard breaststroke, and 25-yard butterfly.
Nine year-old Laura Hakes dazzled as she finished in the top 10 in four events, the 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke, 50-yrad breaststroke and 50-yard freestyle. Matt Quigley, who had never ran a seeding time in the 50-yard backstroke, had a great swim finishing fifth with a time of 44.01. The 9-year-old Quigley also claimed top 10 finishes in the 50-yard breaststroke, 100-yard IM, and 50-yard freestyle.
Club newcomers, 9-year-old twins Erika and Kira Daubert each competed in the 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke and 50-yard breaststroke.“We love to swim and it’s great getting to do it with my sister,” said Erika. “It’s fun when we are in the same heat.”
"I was glad to do good in the backstroke,” added Kira. “It’s my favorite stroke of what we do. I had a problem with my turn in my breaststroke, but it is still fun.”
"There are some really fast times swam here and the best at each event in our area are here," added coach DePadua “I was very proud of the way our young kids stepped up today and they are so much fun to work with.”
