The Kingsbrooke Sea Lions will be competing against the Sudley Seahorses and Braemar Blasters on July 27 in the Blue Division of the Prince William Swim League.
“The kids are pumped up. We’re all kind of hoping this is our big year,” said Coach Tessa Jarrett of the Sea Lions.
As for last weekend's meet at Braemar, Jarrett said that despite their loss, her team was able to enjoy their meet at Braemar this Saturday by focusing on individual achievement and having more swimmers qualify to swim different strokes.
“We look at wins, but we look at stats as well. Our goal was to make it a fun individual meet, improving our best times,” Jarrett said.
That low-pressure approach to the meet helped some of her top swimmers qualify to swim all four legal strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, in division finals.
However, within certain groups, it was also a chance to shine against Braemar.
“Our 9 and 10-year-old girls are number-one in the league,” Jarrett said, noting they broke the medley relay record for Kingsbrooke and continued to break their own record every week after that.
In other areas, it is the swimmers themselves who are exceptional. Sea Lion Kelly Morgan, 14, and Josie Helpard, 10, are triple-win swimmers. They have helped score big for their team, while pushing themselves toward their individual goals.
Yet, on Saturday, even those who did not usually make competitive times had a chance to compete.
“We’re limited how many kids you can put in a meet,” said Jarrett, explaining that she cannot always swim kids who “aren’t quite fast enough.” Therefore, low-pressure meets are fun because more team members get a chance to swim.
“We had some of swim for the first time and do a great job,” Jarrett said.
While the meet was low-pressure, it was highly-attended with Braemar and Kingsbrooke families sharing both a rivalry and comradery.
“We’ve always really gotten along with Braemar. We’re right next to each other, so it’s a fun rivalry. The kids go to school together; all the kids know each other. The parents know each other. It just makes it more fun,” Jarrett said
Both teams also share the desire to beat the Sudley Seahorses at Division Finals. As the Braemar Blasters just recently broke the Seahorses winning streak held since 1999, Jarrett expects the Blue Division Finals will be very exciting.
Meanwhile, Kingsbrooke has two more regular meets scheduled against the Piedmont Piranhas and then the Sudley Seahorses. Jarrett said they are both great teams, and her swimmers are looking forward to those meets.
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