YMCA of Greater Indianapolis (YOGI) recently hosted its first official home swim meet against the Niles Mariners of Michigan and the Michiana Stingrays at the Ransburg YMCA outdoor 50-meter Long Course pool. Swimmers of the YOGI Swim Club come from five teams at area pools: the Benjamin Harrison YMCA Barracudas, Fishers YMCA Sharks, Irsay Family YMCA Otters, Jordan YMCA Mussels, and the Ransburg YMCA Rays.
YOGI swimmers did an amazing job against the nine-time state champ Michiana team and won the meet with 1,664 points. Michiana scored 1,575, followed by Niles with 480 points.
Swimmers weigh in
Here’s what swimmers had to say about the meet:
“When I woke up the morning of the meet, I felt excited. I always have fun when I go to swim meets. I get to hang out with my friends and swim, which is something that I love to do. I also get to see how much I’ve improved from the last meet. I get to cheer on my teammates which is always fun because you know that cheering them on helps them do better. I hope that I can keep going to swim meets and have more teams from other places to compete against us.” - Abigail, age 12“It was nice to finally have a home meet in a pool that we know and won! I was happy that it was so close to home.” - James, age 10
“Most of my team comes to the practices, but don’t always get to come to swim meets and race against others. Home swim meets allow more of my friends to come. It always makes me feel good to see the happiness in everyone’s face when they do well. I love getting to cheer on my teammates. I hope we get to have more home meets in the future.” - Laney, age 13
A first for Indy
Known as “America’s Swim Instructor,” the YMCA has a long tradition of running swim teams, particularly on the East Coast. YMCA swimming follows USA Swimming rules and regulations. Coaches also instruct in the Y’s core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. The YOGI Swim Club, however, just joined the national YMCA competitive swim league in September 2017.
24 state qualifiers
The team spent its first season traveling to pools across Northern Indiana, building a competitive team and a true swim family. Twenty-four swimmers qualified for the YMCA Indiana State Meet in Lafayette, IN and posted over 100 best swim times.
Parents a big part of swim family
Swim parents have spent countless hours getting the necessary certifications and learning how to run a successful YMCA swim meet, which require 18 timers, 1 head timer, 6 officials, clerks, runners and concessions. Every one of these positions was filled by a parent or sibling of a swimmer at this first home meet. The amazing parent involvement makes this team truly special.
Ages 5 – 19 are welcome
The team is open for swimmers from the age of 5-19, and practice 3-4 days a week. We are looking forward to the new opportunities in the 2018-2019 Short Course season where we'll compete in the Louisville, Evansville and Cincinnati areas and would love to grow our team (and family). We also hope to double the entries in next state meet and work toward qualifying swimmers for Zone Championships.
Because in swimming, it’s all about goals, and we’d love to have you join the team!
