The Summerville YMCA Tidal Wave is gaining momentum and looking to make an impact on the local swim scene.
The swim team is growing in numbers and strength, as evidenced by its performance at the 2010 South Carolina YMCA State Championship meet in Rock Hill Feb. 20-21. Compared to last year, the Wave advanced nearly four times as many swimmers to the regional meet and both its boys’ and girls’ teams placed higher during this year’s championship.
“I feel the team has reached a turning point,” Tidal Wave coach Jacob Evans said. “The YMCA now has the only year-round swim team in Summerville so we are starting to get stronger swimmers. We’ve grown by 40 or 50 swimmers and we’re continuing to build on the success we experienced last year. The Y is dedicated to the program and I’m seeing a lot of dedication from our swimmers.”
Until recently, most of the stronger swimmers in town were members of the Southern Marlins Race Team rather than the Y team. However, after that organization’s facility in town closed down, some of those year-round swimmers defected to the Y.
The extra swimmers, along with the extra resources the Y has pumped into the program, seem to have made a big difference. Last year the team only sent 12 swimmers to the state meet. This year it sent 33.
The Wave girls placed eighth at the meet, an improvement of four places from 2009. The Wave boys placed 10th, a jump of five places.
Last year the team qualified only three swimmers for the region meet. This year it qualified 11 – Caitlin Medford, Madison Parks, Erin O’Malley, Katie Bogensberger, Hailey Campbell, Graci Hill, Cherokee Grooms, Briane Jones, Dalton Delp, Trey DiMuzio and Sean Kamperman. Those swimmers will take on athletes from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia during the Y regional meet March 19-21 in Rock Hill.
Jones, 17, placed second in the 100-meter Freestyle event for her division at the state meet. Alex Hundemer, 6, won the 25-meter Butterfly in his division and placed third in the 25 Breaststroke.
In addition to the regional qualifiers, several other members of the team had Top 10 finishes during the state meet. They include: Danielle Stout, Kelly Bogensberger, Justin Moscoso, Noah Moscoso, Courtney Depatie, Shayla Durda, Megan Frick, Lindsey Hundemer, Vaugn Stetser, Randy Cannon, Matthew Johnson and Caroline Searfoss.
In an effort to offer a more competitive environment for its swimmers, the Tidal Wave will rejoin the Coastal Carolina Aquatics Association league this summer. The team will have registration at the Y pool in Oakbrook on weekends during April. Practice begins May 1.
For swimmers wanting to get a leg up on the summer season, the team is having practice from 5-6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in March and April at the Oakbrook pool.
Anyone interested in the team can get more information at practice or by calling the Y’s Oakbrook office at 821-1028.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.