All the Eels team members practice together and encourage one another to perform exceptionally in and out of the water.
Courtesy of the Newberry County Family YMCA
NEWBERRY — The Newberry County Family YMCA swim team has had many championship winners in the past and hopefully this season as well.
The team is led by former Newberry YMCA and Mid-Carolina High school swimmer, Rachel Smith. Smith is thrilled to have six swimmers in the upcoming championship. The swimmers in the championship are Grant Smith, Kindel Jaeger, Jenna Burge, Kaley Burge, Jorja McGee and Aarush Kumar. Grant Smith and Lance Crider also attended Long Course State Championships, this season.
The Newberry YMCA summer team has 27 swimmers, the youngest being five years old and the oldest at 17. Though swimming is an individual sport, the Eels can compete as a relay team for swim meets.
All the team members practice together and encourage one another to perform exceptionally in and out of the water, according to Rachel Smith. Each swimmer makes it a point to cheer on their teammates and support them at races, she added.
One key factor in the success of the team is parental support. The parents ensure their children are coming to practice, helping with swim meets, and encouraging other children on the team, said Smith.
“My YMCA swim team is passionate, resilient, and competitive. All my swimmers are passionate about swimming. They are resilient because they always stay strong no matter what change happens. Lastly, they are competitive. In practice, the swimmers race each other because they all want to win and be the best they can be,” said Smith.
Smith pushes her swimmers to improve their swimming abilities continuously. Therefore, she designs swim practice to be high intensity, but also engaging for the swimmers. She utilizes her passion for swimming as motivation to continue supporting each swimmer through every win and every loss.
“The Newberry YMCA swim team is like a family. We also play games in the water and race one another to foster teamwork and team spirit,” said Smith.
After swim meets, the team goes to a celebratory team dinner, now a team tradition. In the winter, the team plans volunteering and giving back to the Newberry community.
If you have any questions regarding the Newberry YMCA Swim Team, reach out to Smith at Rachel@newberryymca.org.
Angel Kumari is an intern for The Newberry Observer.