Think back, how old were you when you learned to swim?

Did you spend lazy summer days splashing around in the shallow end of the pool, daring to put your entire face underwater?

For the littlest competitors on the Northampton Kids swim team this summer, their summertime in the pool is quite different. The 8 & under age group for the Kids summer swim team is made up of boys and girls, ages 6-8. These small swimmers are up early this summer, swimming lap after lap at the Northampton Middle School pool. Their practice is not just jumping in and doggie paddling to the side; these tough little competitors work to perfect their freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

They prepare for each summer competition by practicing their starts, their breathing, and the technical details of each stroke. Their summertime in the pool is anything but lazy and the smiles on their faces tell anyone watching that they already love this sport.

Poised on the starting blocks, goggles down, caps on, waiting for the buzzer to sound so they can spring into action, the 8 & unders of the Northampton Kids summer swim team did an outstanding job in last Thursday’s away meet against the SOLECO Stingrays. The 8 & under boys relay team made it a brother’s event as Connor and Evan Mentzell teamed up with Trace and Luca Snellman for a close second-place finish in the boys 100-meter relay. In the boys 25-meter breaststroke event, Luca Snellman placed second, followed closely by Trace Snellman in third and Spencer Bicket swam exhibition. Luca Snellman also placed second in the 25-meter butterfly and fifth in the 25-meter freestyle. Connon Mentzell was third to the wall in the 25-meter butterfly, second in the 25-meter backstroke, and third in the 25-meter freestyle, while Evan Mentzell placed third in the backstroke event and fifth in the 25-meter freestyle. Bicket achieved fifth place in the 25-meter backstroke event and also swan strong in the 25-meter freestyle in the exhibition heat. Trace Snellman placed fifth in the butterfly and was the lead-off swimmer in the second place all-ages crescendo relay team for the boys.

For the girls’ team, in the 25-meter breaststroke event, Kids swimmers Mia Kelly and Evangeline Noone placed second and fourth, respectively, and Savannah Sacks swam the breaststroke exhibition heat. Noone also swam the 25-meter exhibition heat for the freestyle event. Kelly grabbed valuable points for her team as she achieved second place in the 25-meter backstroke and 25-meter freestyle events and joined her older teammates for a second-place finish in the all-ages crescendo relay event. Sacks was fourth to the wall in the backstroke, placed fifth in the 25-meter freestyle event, and led off the fifth-place all-ages crescendo relay team.

So while there have been several notable performances this past week from our Northampton Kids summer swim team, this week’s article salutes the little ones, the 8 & unders who bring a smile to our faces as we cheer them on.

Great job little ‘Kids’!