Ten and under
By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
It was a beautiful evening on June 23, when the age ten and under Lake Monticello Swim Team (LMST) Sharks hosted the ten and under Killer Whale squad from Key West (Charlottesville, not Florida). It was the first meet of the season for the younger Sharks. The Sharks lost its entire 2020 season due the pandemic, but they are now back in force. The pool at the Lake Monticello clubhouse was surrounded with parents and grandparents and siblings and friends.
The co-head coaches are Stephanie Nardone and Maria Arroyo. Nardone said that due to COVID-19 protocols the swim teams have been split into two divisions with the ten and under swimmers and the 11 and up swimmers having separate meets. In addition, the meets this year will be unscored with no winning or losing teams. This means that the coaches will work with their swimmers on improving their times and their techniques and on having fun.
The pandemic has clearly not affected the enthusiasm for swimming in the Lake Monticello community. The two Shark divisions have approximately 150 swimmers signed up. Nardone said that about 80 are in the ten and under category. This explains the large spectator contingent on June 23.
In the past, the Jefferson Swim League was a big operation with 17 teams from all over the Charlottesville area competing. As a result some fairly long trips to away meets were involved. There were trips to Crozet and even Culpeper. This season the Sharks will be competing only against teams from a very local area. Nardone said that each division will swim only against Key West, which is just East of Pantops; Glenmore, which is in Albemarle, but just north of Fluvanna County, and Hollymead which is on Rt.29 just outside of Charlottesville. As a result, each Sharks division will be limited to only three meets for the summer. The season will end in July, not extending into August.
