THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412160269
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAUREN ALDER, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
SWIMMERS, TAKE YOUR mark.
And, they're off.
Finally, Beach District high schools have answered the cry of the water lovers and have put swimming on the agenda for the 1994-95 winter season.
A survey - which showed only slight interest - was conducted in the spring of last year by Bayside High principal and swimming chairman Michael Debranski. But even so, a committee was formed and swimming was adopted as a club sport for this winter. It will become a regular varsity sport next year.
And despite the survey, students came out in large numbers for tryouts for the club teams that began competition at area Parks and Recreation centers last Friday.
A total of 295 athletes tried out for the district's 10 schools.
Schools were assigned to a particular recreation center - with two or three schools at each.
At the Bayside center are Bayside, Princess Anne and Green Run - coached by Dave Monkman, Jeff Noss and Dave Oaks. Kempsville and Tallwood make up the Kempsville team coached by Ernie Rille and Sarah Winters. First Colonial and Cox compete at the Great Neck center and will be coached by Betsy Durant and Kim McCanna. Salem, Kellam and Ocean Lakes meet at the Princess Anne center and are coached by Randy Sterling, Kelly Walker and Laura Eldridge.
The coaches' goals appear to be focused on two things - helping to promote the image of the sport and to improve the level of ability among the participants. Practice sessions and skilled coaching - with most having some competitive experience - will cater to these goals.
The swimmers, however, want a little more and are getting exactly what they expected.
Their minds are on winning and they can already see who the favorites are.
As one athlete from Princess Anne said: ``Kempsville or the Great Neck team will be the ones to beat.''
Currently, the teams are each swimming between 1,500 and 2,000 meters a day. by CNB