Tsunami swimmers compete in districts
The Sussex Family YMCA Tsunami Swim Team participated March 12-14 in the East Field South District YMCA Championship Meet in Laurel, Md.
Swimmers spend the entire season, which begins in October, training, practicing and competing throughout the region with the goal of qualifying for the district competition. This meet hosts teams from Delaware, Maryland and northern Virginia, and only swimmers with qualifying times are invited to compete.
This year, Sussex Family YMCA sent 21 swimmers in 118 events.
The Tsunamis had a fantastic showing including two national qualifying times for Ruslan Kopunek in the 20 free and 100 free. Jack Weeks posted nine top-10 finishes, Sarah Hyde posted three top-10 finishes, Gabriel Gonzalez finished in the top 10 for two of his events, and Sarah Rambo finished in the top 10 in two different events.
The swimmers featured 82 personal best times in their events, and they spent more than 26 hours poolside with more than 700 competitors.
The Sussex Family Tsunami is the club swim team of the Sussex Family YMCA and hosts more than 70 swimmers during the winter swim season. Spring training starts in the next couple of weeks, and in June the team starts its 2011 summer swim season. The team is coached by Lydia Schmierer, Tina Nigh-Johnson, Hilary Lavender and Ellen Gorrin. Sadly, the team lost one of its coaches, Ray Newbold, in January.
