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YOUTH SWIMMING: A pool deep in tradition
Lockport YMCA swimmers are preparing for this weekend’s state meet at UB
LOCKPORT — The numbers are down, but the quality remains high when it comes to the Lockport YMCA Swim Team.
More than a third of the 2009-10 swim team has qualified for this weekend’s New York State YMCA Swim Meet at the University at Buffalo Alumni Arena, where they will compete against 1,500 other Empire State swimmers ages 8 to 18.
“It’s nice to have the state swim meet in our own back yard again,” said Lockport coach Kevin Mietlicki, who’s been with the “Y” swim team program throughout the last decade. Many of the state meets in recent years have been help on Long Island.
“That eliminates that long day of travel. We’re hoping to have the state meet in Buffalo every other year from now on,” said Mietlicki, who’s assisted by fellow Lockport coaches Curt Bobzien, Catherine Haenle and James Lyons.
There are 26 youths in five divisions representing the Lockport Family YMCA swim team at states this year.
They are Emily Quast, Luke Lawrence, Anne-Marie Aber, Cole Twomey, C.C. Rahill, Keeley Ralyea, Larissa Nicholson, Zach Lundy, Isabel Treanor, Joe Treanor, Meghan Mietlicki, Sam Murphy, Gianna Fazzolari, Melyssa Masters, Brianne Strong, Derek Secord, Lillian Masters, Erica Crane, Jim Sparks; Kathleen Pollock, Hannah Lawrence, Jessica Sacco, Elizabeth Connolly, Lauren Isherwood, Jim Sacco and Gina Artieri.
Murphy, Aber, Rahill, Fazzolari and Isabel Treanor will compete in the 8-Under (Polliwog) Division; Joe Treanor, Lundy, Luke Lawrence, Mietlicki, Pollock, Artieri and the Saccos are in the 9-10 (Midget) Division; Hannah Lawrence and Isherwood will swim in the 11-12 (Prep) Division; Sparks, Twomey, Secord, Lillian Masters, Nicholson, Connolly and Ralyea will compete in the 13-14 (Junior) Division); and Melyssa Masters, Crane, Quast and Strong are in the 15-18 (Senior) Division.
It’s been nothing short of a labor of love for the YMCA coaching staff, which began its season back in September, competing against three other teams from Western New York and eight from the Rochester area.
Swim numbers are down for a variety of reasons, they said, including the emergence of other more high-profile sports that are attracting younger kids today.
“Swimming’s not an easy sport. You have to have a certain mindset to do it successfully,” said Mietlicki, while putting his team through a practice Monday at the Lockport High School pool.
“You stare at the bottom of the pool for hours, just to try to reduce your time by point-one of a second,” Mietlicki said.
“Basketball games take about 45 minutes, whereas swim meets take hours. It takes more time and more commitment.”
Reduced to less than 100 members in the last decade, the YMCA swim team — once more than 200 strong — is celebrating a rebirth under its enthusiastic coaches. There were 73 kids total on the team this year, which is a slight increase from a year ago.
Bobzien, a 1992 graduate of LHS and a former YMCA and LHS swimmer, still holds two Lions pool records, which are prominently displayed on the wall above the pool where he now passes along his expertise. “I love coaching. It’s great passing on the things that I learned,” he said.
Added Mietlicki, a 1985 LHS grad and former swimmer-now swim meet official, “It’s fun and it’s interesting how some of the kids I coached have graduated. It’s nice to see the younger kids starting again. I look forward to the relationship we’ll have over the next 10 years.”
Besides their four coaches, the swim team is also assisted by the parents of swimmers, as well as Darcee Hughes of the YMCA and Kevin’s wife, Annette, who runs the YMCA Swim Team Parents Association.
The state swim meet begins at 5 p.m. Friday at UB, then resumes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and again from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday. Results will be published in the Union-Sun & Journal next week.
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