BLUFFTON – Jockeys and Jedi. Emojis and Egyptians.
These are not what you expect to see at a swim meet, but these colorful characters were all part of the opening parade of the 35th annual Elk’s Invitational Swim Meet and West Ohio Aquatic League Championships that began Friday and will conclude today.
More than 600 swimmers from eight different teams are participating in the annual event. The teams competing were Ada, Bluffton, Kenton, Shawnee, Sherwood, Van Wert, Wapakoneta and Westside.
The annual opening parade where each team picks a theme is just part of the fun to kick off the competition said Bill Angel, meet director.
“This is a big event,” Angel said. “This is the central part of the summer for the swim community. All the swimmers and all the swim teams look forward to this. It really is a celebration of swimming.”
Over the course of the two-day event, there are more than 100 heats and races.
Due to the large number of swimmers and events, it takes a number of volunteers to prepare and run the annual meet.
“The Bluffton pool personnel have the most to do putting on the event, but all the teams have a contribution to make in various parts, like the awards stand and getting the senior awards ready,” Angel said. “All the hard work is spread over eight different communities. It is really quite an undertaking.”
The competition will be fierce over the next two days but Angel said the swim community is more about cheering for each other rather than winning at all cost.
“The swim community is one of these sports where we actually cheer for each other,” he said. “Even though we are opposing each other, swimmers have friends on different teams that come together in the winter and swim on the same high school team and so it really is a sport that breeds sportsmanship. I think that it an important aspect of it.”
This year, the meet will end with a special “Memorial Relay.” The event has been established to recognize any/all swimmers, their parents or other “friends of swimming” who have died in the past year. This year’s race is dedicated to to everyone who has lost someone special in the past year.
The winner of the relay will receive a trophy that will travel with the winning team for a year. Each relay team will be comprised of one male and one female from each age group and they will swim a 25 freestyle or 50 freestyle leg depending on their age group. No team points will be scored with this relay.
Action resumes today with the seniors being recognized at 9 a.m. with competition commencing at 9:45 a.m.
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