The Stingrays Swim Club has raced against the Lawrence Lightning since the Stingrays’ inception in 2007, and each year, the Stingrays couldn’t pull ahead.
That changed at the Dec. 6, 2014 meet, though. After gradually closing the point gap every meet since the first, the Stingrays finally came out on top, 243-185, even though the Lightning had about 50 more swimmers.
“We kind of always tried to make that effort to go and swim as best we could against them,” head coach Mike Uchrin said. “It’s not like we’ve brought on a ton more swimmers. Over the years, our quality has gotten better to the point that now even though we were outnumbered at the meet, we did come out on top, which was great for us. It was a very exciting time.”
Lawrence resident Kelsey Schwimmer, a former Stingray swimmer and current assistant coach, remembers the intensity of those particular meets.
“[The Lightning] were always a really large team with a lot of swimmers,” she said. “It was always a challenge. I also remember seeing the Stingrays as the years went by get better and better and kind of even out more. Seeing this team that was so small once come together to achieve something that they haven’t been able to do was amazing.”
Uchrin, who is in his fifth year with the Stingrays, said the win speaks to the club’s growth in terms of quality over the last eight years. When he started, he said, only a handful of swimmers qualified for silver times by USA Swimming standards. Now, several swimmers fall into both the silver and gold categories, as well as qualifying for the Junior Olympics.
The club hosts three levels of swimmers from ages 5 to 18 from all over the county, practicing at The Pennington School and The Lawrenceville School. The season lasts annually from September to May and includes dual and open meets.
Though dual meets are an important component of the season, Uchrin said the club’s focus has shifted to competing in USA Swimming’s open meets and meeting their standards. Team member Susannah Tuder, a 12-year-old, qualified for the Junior Olympics with a 200 breaststroke time of 2:48.68, while Jenna Kollevol, also 12, has qualified in various butterfly, freestyle and backstroke events.
“We’re getting as many swimmers qualified for silvers and golds and [Junior Olympics] as possible,” he said. “Those are really the focus of our club moving forward.”
He attributes the change to the close-knit relationship between swimmers and coaches, made possible by its smaller size (around 70 swimmers).
“Everyone knows everyone’s names, and we take the time to recognize accomplishments and support each other,” Uchrin said. “In age group swimming, you often work with an athlete for a short period of time, then they age up or move up and you lose that connection. That isn’t the case in our program.”
It’s part of the reason why Schwimmer, a Princeton High School graduate and current student at Denison University in Ohio, came back to coach. As a swimmer, she said the Stingrays consistently introduced her to the next level of competition. She “grew with the team” and became a more serious athlete, and she has had a similar experience as a coach.
“When I was swimming, I’d always see what the coaches were doing,” she said. “It always looked really interesting. By that time I knew Mike and [coach Andy Sichet] pretty well. I asked them if I could try it out, and they let me. I think they’ve taught me a lot in terms of swimming, but also in terms of becoming a coach. It’s really interesting to be on the other side of things. I’ve been able to use the skills that I’ve learned towards coaching younger kids and seeing them grow as their own swimmers.”
The club provides the right atmosphere for a budding swimmer who wants to be competitive, she added.
“The team has started getting bigger in terms of people knowing about it,” she said. “I think it’s a good alternative. There are a lot of amazing club teams in the area, but this is something that’s not as crazy competitive. The coaches, especially Mike, made the team what it is today. They’ve been doing an amazing job.”
,
