MOUNT VERNON — The high school swim season may be over but the YMCA swimmers have kicked it into high gear.
The Mount Vernon YMCA Swim Team Barracudas sent 27 qualifiers to last weekend’s YMCA Winter Championship Swim Meet in Canton and they returned with a fourth-place finish in their division — 12th overall out of 21 teams.
“These kids did fantastic,” said Barracudas’ swim coach Amy Pierce. “They really worked hard. I’m proud of them. The kids that went to Canton are dedicated to the sport. There were teams that had a hundred or more kids and here we went with 22 kids and finished 12th.”
The Barracudas swimmers range in age from 5 years old all the way through high school. Some of the older members of the Barracudas, like Mount Vernon High School swimmers Victor Lowe, Konnor Dingman and Robert Williams, were in the OHSAA districts last month. Their presence gives the younger ones something for which to strive.
“The older kids, with their experience, are role models for the younger ones,” said Pierce. “The younger ones strive to be like them and work hard.”
Also present, as a volunteer, is Mount Vernon swim coach Josh Kline, who helps out with the older swimmers. Kline knows the importance of exposing the younger swimmers to those who can show them the value of hard work.
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