Pike County YMCA Piranhas grow in second year of competition

“The Piranhas swim team has grown from 14 members in 2021-2022 to 20 members, aged 7-15 for the 2022-2023 swim season,” Eric Nichols said. “It would be good to see this program develop and create the opportunity for our local school districts to establish swim teams of their own. In a couple of years, we would have a core of swimmers ready to compete and win in the Southern Ohio Conference and Scioto Valley Conference.”

According to Nichols, the swim season for the Piranhas started the third week of October and will run through the first weekend in March. The Piranhas typically practice on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week and participate in approximately 10 to 11 meets throughout the season.

The complete Pike County YMCA Piranhas Swim Team roster includes: 15-18 Year Olds — Kateri Davis; 13-14 Year Olds — Hudson Harris, Claire Morrison, Gabe Nichols, Austin Ward; 11-12 Year Olds — Maelynn Compton, Matthew Day, Zayne Page, Elle Shepherd, Claire Shaffer, Mia Fyffe; 9-10 Year Olds — Trey Daniel, Sam Dixon, Audrey Lansing, Alexis Montgomery, Nguyen Nguyen, Kane Ryan, Andrew Ward, Avery Williams; 8 and Under: Isaac Daniel.

Races contested during the mixed meet event for boys and girls pitting the Pike and Ross County teams included the 100- and 200-yard Relay Medley; the 25-, 50-, 100-, 200- and 1,000-yard Freestyle; 100-, 200- and 400-yard Individual Medley; the 25-, 50-, and 100-yard Butterfly; the 25-, 50- and 100-yard Backstroke; the 25-, 50-, 100- and 200-yard Breastroke; and the 200-yard Freestyle Relay.

At the conclusion of the meet, three second-year swimmers shared their thoughts on being a “Piranha”.

“It takes a lot of effort to put into it, but the coaches really push us to do better every single time,” Elle Shepherd said. “I like being here after school. It gives me something to do after school. Being in the water is fun.”

Claire Shaffer added, “I like hanging out with my friends and pushing myself to do better every meet.”

Mia Fyffe shared that her favorite event was the breaststroke.

“I feel like it is one of the easiest for me. All three (Fyffe, Shepherd and Shaffer) of us do breast stroke,” Fyffe said. “I like hanging out with them and all of my other friends. Swimming is my favorite sport. I’ve played softball and stuff, but swimming is the best.”

Nichols appreciates all of the support the program has received, including sponsorship by Long’s Retreat for the second straight year and the Pike County YMCA for providing the team with “a beautiful, clear and bright competition pool.”

“We are very blessed to have this resource available in our community,” Nichols said of the pool. “Special thanks to Zach Clinger, the YMCA Aquatics Director, for all his help and support. We would also like to thank our friends Sue and Jen at the Ross County YMCA for their ongoing support and help officiating the meet. Most importantly, we would like to thank our parents for their unwavering support in helping to make our program thrive.”

On Saturday, January 21, the Piranhas travel to Lancaster to compete against the Lancaster, Fayette County YMCA and Ross County YMCA Swim Teams. The remaining local meets will help the swimmers prepare for the biggest meet of the year.

“Our season will culminate in Canton at the YMCA Championship Meet on March 4 and 5, where 50-yard events are open to all YMCA swimmers,” Nichols said.

As of Jan. 21, the following swimmers have qualified to participate in events that require them to meet the league time standard: Trey Daniel, 100 Freestyle; Hudson Harris, 100 Freestyle; Audrey Lansing, 100 Freestyle and 100 Individual Medley; Claire Morrison, 100 Breaststroke; Nguyen Nguyen, 100 Breaststroke; Gabe Nichols, 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke; Claire Shaffer, 100 Breaststroke and 100 Individual Medley; and Avery Williams, 100 Freestyle.

“We have several more swimmers that are very close to meeting the time standard in their events,” Nichols said. “Over the next several weeks, we intend to work hard to get our list of qualified swimmers to grow.”

For additional photos from this meet, please see the online version of the story at newswatchman.com/sports and click on the attached photo gallery or view the gallery under the multimedia section online.