The Virginia Peninsula Swim Union marked the end of another year of summer swim in the Williamsburg area, with hundreds of young swimmers taking to the water on Saturday for the championship meet.
The meet — held at the 757swim Aquatic Center — capped off a season that saw the First Colony Flyers, the Wellington Waves and the Village Green Patriots winning first place in their divisions. There were several meet records broken as well, said meet coordinator Amy Kuzemka.
The First Colony Flyers took top honors at the championship meet Saturday as well as at the VPSU Summer Awards meet at Queens Lake on July 27, marking a perfect season.
“When you combine fun with winning, it becomes even more thrilling,” said Lisa Evans, president of the First Colony Flyers. “Our team consistently performs at a high level, and this year we elevated our success with a flawless season.”
The summer swim league, which began in 1969, includes 18 neighborhood teams scattered throughout the Williamsburg area. Divided into three divisions, the teams compete with one another in June and July, ending with the championship meet. More than 600 swimmers competed on Saturday, with the Kingswood Klams taking second place and the Ford’s Colony Killer Whales coming in third.
For many families, summer swim is a tradition, with parents as volunteers running the meets. The teams that make up the summer swim scene come from neighborhoods in the city, surrounding counties and upper Newport News. Swimmers range in age from 4 to 18.
For Evans, whose family joined the Flyers last year, summer swimming is “truly infectious,” offering “a perfect blend” of physical activity, skill development, social interaction and physical growth for all ages. Former swimmers and high school-aged swimmers often coach, ensuring the younger kids learn while having fun.
“As parents, we appreciated the support and interaction from the older kids and the involvement of parents as volunteers,” said Evans, whose two daughters, ages 8 and 9, are on the team.
Dillon Delaney, the Flyers’ head coach, said this summer has been “one of the most memorable seasons out of my eight years coaching with the Flyers.”
Delaney, who joined the Flyers at age 6 and is going into his junior year — where he’s on the swim team — at Liberty University, said he learned to love the sport of swimming especially because of a former coach who helped to make swimming fun.
“Summer swim should be the perfect balance of fun and competition,” he said. “The kids enjoy the swim meets and always get pumped up and have fun swimming against other teams and seeing how they improve but they also want to win. I focus more on the fun part than the winning as swimming while having fun is way better then swimming to win.
“While winning is fun,” he added, “I never remember whether we won a season or lost a season; I remember the memories I made with the team and how the kids improved over the years.”
According to the Patriots, summer swim is “the best way to get plugged into the neighborhood during the summer.”
“The children grow friendships that last through the years and the parents gain a great sense of community,” the Patriots’ website says. “On meet nights you will hear every parent cheering for each other’s kid, no matter if the child is winning their heat, or if it’s a 6-year-old just making it to the end of the pool. We grow as a team and as a community.”
For results on all the VPSU meets this season, visit vpsu.swimtopia.com.
Kim O’Brien Root, kimberly.root@virginiamedia.com
