LOCKPORT: Swim championships return after two-decade hiatus

By Joe Olenick<br><a href="mailto:olenickj@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Joe</a>
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

July 25, 2008 02:13 am

— Next month, a familiar event returns to Briarwood Pool after a 20-year absence.
The City and Town of Lockport Swimming Championships will be held at 9 a.m. Aug. 23 at the pool, located at the end of Willow Street and Briarwood Drive in the Town of Lockport. The event is a swim competition inviting all city and town residents between the ages of 6 through 18 to participate. Swimmers can compete in a number of events, then at the end of the day, an overall male and female winner and runner up will be chosen in each of the age groups.
The reason for bringing back the event was to provide a special swim program at Briarwood for the community. Briarwood board member Stephen Wallace said the pool’s board of directors wanted to bring back the championships, after being asked what it was doing to enhance the pool’s value to the community.
“I kind of took that to heart, as did the board,” Wallace said. “We came up with ideas and thoughts. We wanted to work with the YMCA mutually and see what we could do to help the kids.”
Briarwood began offering programs for all ages, such as YMCA-taught water aerobics on Monday nights. But even with activities such as basketball and swimming available, Briarwood was still missing something. Wallace said some of the board members found a box of ribbons that were supposed to be given to the winners of the city swimming championships when the event was still being held.
“We found hundreds of them,” Wallace said. “We started looking into it, and that’s when we said. ‘Let’s have a community-wide swimming championship.’ ”
The goal was a program that would draw all city and town residents to Briarwood, and with the popularity of swimming, bringing back the Lockport swim championships could do just that. Swimmers wouldn’t be the only ones there for the event, they said: It’s something that would bring the whole family together.
“This is something that gets them out of the house, gets them away from the computer,” Wallace said. “But it’s also something that mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles can come, too. We’re going to have refreshments, and they can bring out the lawn chairs and sit and watch these kids compete and show off their talents.”
Darcee Rae Hughes, the health, fitness and aquatics director at the YMCA, said bringing back the swim championships gets other organizations to cooperate with one another.
“I think that’s huge,” she said.
“It’s not just a swim championship that Briarwood is having,” Wallace said. “This is something we’re working with the YMCA, the country club and the Community Pool. This is for the kids.”
The tradition began in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Wallace said. Members from Briarwood Pool would swim against the Community Pool as well as other organizations. The swim meets would involve some big names in Lockport swimming world. Each of the winners would receive ribbons at the end of the day. However, over time, the championships faded out.
Along with the championships, those ribbons are back. They will be awarded for each event on Aug. 23, first through sixth place. The winner of each event earns points, and the accumulated point total at the end of the event will determine the overall boy and girl champion in each age group, as well as the overall runner-up for each gender in each age group. Overall champions win a trophy and prizes, while the runner up also will win some prizes.
For the spectators, there will be a 50/50 split and other door prizes available.
Wallace said some were already registered for the championships. Hughes said registration forms were given to kids at swim lessons this week.
Wallace added that Briarwood needs help from businesses and organizations in the area, whether through money or items such as gift certificates that can be given away as prizes. Any help will make the event a success by providing more awards to swimmers, he said. Financial donations could be tax deductible.
Lifeguards and referees will be volunteering their time at the championships. The event is a result of cooperation with community members and organizations, Wallace said. In the future, he added, the event could be moved around to different pools in the area.
“We all have the same philosophy,” Wallace said. “It’s all about the kids.”
Registration forms are due Aug. 16 and will not be accepted after the deadline or at the championships. Swimmers will be split into four age groups for the competition: ages 6 through 8; 9 through 11; 12 through 14; and 15 through 18. Swimmers who wish to enter will have to pay $3 per event, with checks payable to Briarwood Pool. Completed forms with payment can be sent to Briarwood Swim Championships, c/o 92 O’Brien Drive, Lockport, NY, 14094. For more information about Briarwood or the championships, call the pool and leave a message at 957-8953, or by call Wallace at 628-8928.
Forms are available at Lockport Apothecary, the YMCA, Briarwood Pool, Mills Jewelers, the Community Pool and the Union-Sun & Journal. Forms also will be available next week at www.briarwoodpool.blogspot.com.
Contact reporter Joe Olenick
at 439-9222, ext. 6241.

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