The Lenoir City Bettas swim team got back in the pool Thursday with a 340-278 win over West Side YMCA in Knoxville.
The meet was the team’s first of the season, with high hopes of keeping the momentum all the way through to July’s championships.
“I’m really excited to be starting the season,” Hannah Crisp, Bettas head coach, said. “We had a really great season this year, so to pick back up and get to do things again is really exciting, especially to see how much everything as grown. Even from this last season, this is the biggest team we’ve ever had, so having all these kids to start off the season has been really cool and really incredible to have everybody in every event.”
With many team members also part of Lenoir City High School’s swim team, plenty of swimmers only just ended a successful season a couple of months ago. The biggest difference between the two teams are their size, as the school team includes high and middle school, while the Bettas go all the way down to 5-year-olds.
“High school season is ages 11 to 18 and this is anywhere from 5 to 18,” Crisp said. “We’ve also got kids who are just now starting kindergarten and this is their first time doing anything structured.”
Though Crisp described the team’s size and spread of ages as “chaotic,” it did not prevent the team from having a successful opening meet. She credited older and more experienced swimmers with the outcome.
“It’s very chaotic, a little bit, because we have so many kids and so many different ages,” she said. “But our older kids are really good about kind of mentoring the younger ones and being there for them and showing them what to do, what to expect, things like that.”
With one win under their belt, the Bettas have gotten off to a good start as they look to climb the league. They currently compete in league four alongside West Side YMCA, Bennington-Farington, University Swim Club and Maryville Alcoa Flying Dolphins, but can go up to league three should they finish top of the season’s rankings.
“Basically, what were trying to do is win our league,” Crisp said. “If we win the next couple of meets then we’ll be league champions and we’ll get to go up to league three.”
The season’s other goals are to keep improving times and qualify for swim championships in July, culminating July 21-23 with the City Meet.
The Bettas had their second meet, against Bennington-Farington, after News-Herald presstime. They will compete next June 24, when they host USC at the Claire Donahue Aquatic Center.
