Summer League Swim Teams

Weekly swim meets at neighborhood pools culminate with the largest swim meet in the nation

By Grace Huseth

Summer is here and that means neighborhood pools and clubs are creating pop-up swim teams around Atlanta.

Kids of all ages can join the teams, learning the benefits of hard work, goal setting and sportsmanship. Summer swim teams are organized by the Atlanta Swimming

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Association and league director Franke Marsden. He says the goal of summer league is to provide the best environment for athletes to learn the sport of swimming and compete on a fair and fun playing field.

“At the core of the Atlanta Swim Association is the importance of having fun, being part of a team, and the lifelong friendships that are formed in our league,” Marsden said.

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• In the Heart of Midtown championship time. The annual Atlanta Swimming Association Summer League Championship takes place in late June at the McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech, the same pool that hosted the 1996 Olympics. With 5,500 swimmers competing over the course of four days, it’s the largest swim meet in the United States based on number of swimmers in one venue.

Opposite page: Thousands of swimmers at each end of season championship session fill Georgia Tech’s aquatic center to overflowing. Below: Briarmoor Manor Sharks dress in creative costumes for each weekly swim meet.

The event is special as kids can swim like an Olympian and see their name on the digital scoreboard. But it’s also the final swim of the summer, the last chance to break a record, and compare old times to new, faster times.

Over the course of a season, kids improve so much in the water. Some drop time and some master the tricky breaststroke kick. Regardless the milestone reached, the growth serves as an example of just how much you can grow in just one month with consistent dedication and daily practice.