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Local Sports

Local sports in the Panhandle are not just a game, they are a lifestyle. Our community eats, sleeps and breathes cheering on our local athletes.
News13 is On Your “Sidelines” bringing you more than the score.
News13’s Stephen Gunter is committed to giving you stories of the Panhandle’s top athletes, intriguing match-ups and unusual sports you may not even know exist.
sgunter@wmbb.com

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Bay County Swim Meet

PANAMA CITY BEACH- Mosley, Arnold, Bay and Rutherford were all looking forward to this day, the Bay County swimming and diving meet.

The competition matches the four county teams against one another on both the girls and boys sides of action, with the winners crowned through the most overall points.

“The competition is getting great; we’ve gotten a lot of kids involved now. We’re looking at maybe 300 kids here in the county,” said Arnold assistant coach Volker Snow.

Some of the county’s top athletes were in action today at the Bay County swim meet at Frank Brown Park.

When great athletes are going head to head, competition will always be at its peak.

“As far as the competition in this particular county, we’re probably top notch. We have a lot of great swimmers in all teams, that includes Bay, Arnold, Mosley and Rutherford,” said Rutherford coach George Klug.

It might not always be about competition between the county teams.

“It’s a lot of fun; there is a lot of camaraderie, even amongst the opposing teams. They’re really supportive even if they are on the opposite team,” said Bay senior Christen Harned.

“It’s been a long-standing tradition to hold this county meet here, well not here because this is a new facility, but it’s always a good time racing against Rutherford, Bay and Arnold,” said Mosley senior Sean Hicks.

Although these athletes are from four different county schools, they all have one thing in common; they all put in a lot of hard work and effort to get to this point.

“Hours and hours of practice every week. Up to ten hours in the pool and then we weight lift in the mornings as well,” Hicks said.

Swimming is a lot of work. It doesn’t look like it’s that hard, but it uses almost every muscle in your body. It’s pretty rigorous and we swim probably about two miles a day, which is more work than running two miles a day,” said Harned.

“These kids have been training; a lot of kids have been training year-round. A lot of kids are doing weights and swimming two-a-days,” Snow said.

After all the training is complete, what is it that the kids enjoy the most about swimming competitions?

“I believe it’s personal best, that’s what they do best. If they can see their time meltdown, they know they are doing better and winning a race of course, that’s the number one priority,” Klug said.

“It’s fun when you get up there on the blocks and you dive in with everybody cheering,” said Harned.

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