For the Daily Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — As the final swimmer touched the wall on Sunday night, Mark Logan let out a sigh relief. The first championship meet hosted by Logan’s swimming club team was completed.
From July 18 through 21, Greenfield Community Aquatic Team (GCAT) and Jaguar Aquatics co-hosted Indiana Senior State Long Course Championships at IUPUI Natatorium. This was the first time GCAT co-hosted this championship.
“Being able to partner with Jaguar Aquatics seemed like the perfect opportunity to prepare our parents to get some experience for them, in what it takes to run a big meet,” GCAT Age Group coach Logan said. “It was a nice stepping stone. It’s obviously a bigger meet; there’s a little bit more involved in running a state championship meet because we have to adhere to all of Indiana Swimming’s procedures and guidelines.”
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One of the challenges came two days before the meet started. On Tuesday, Logan received the cost to use the caterer used with Jaguar Aquatics. Logan said the cost was astronomical. Ed Merkling, Director of the IUPUI Natatorium, obtained an exclusion for GCAT, which meant Logan didn’t have to use the specific caterer.
“It wasn’t quite what we would have done, but at the same time we got it done and got quality food,” Logan said. “One of the things we’re going to look at is getting the exclusion earlier. It is the second-largest cost to host a meet: feeding 250 people in four days with three meals a day.”
Outside of the challenge of catering, Logan said the championships ran smoothly. In total, there were 70 teams and 686 athletes competing over the four-day span. During these championships, 13 Age Group State Records were broken, and nine swimmers obtained Olympic Trial cuts.
For athletes of both GCAT and Jaguar Aquatics, it felt like they had a home-pool advantage. Sam Jennings, one of the swimmers for GCAT, said he felt at home seeing people he knew volunteering.
“Because usually when you go to these types of meets, you don’t know anybody,” Jennings said. “I think it was greatly appreciated. I felt more comfortable and relaxed knowing that a lot of people volunteering know me. It was nice to see everyone there and come together as a community team.”
Swimming at the Natatorium has not been new to Jennings. He has competed at Senior State since he was in eighth grade. In the past, he has swum at Age Group State, a championship meet for 16 years old and younger, High School State and various small-club invitationals.
Among the teams participating in this meet were clubs who were triple the size of GCAT and Jaguar Aquatics. For instance, Carmel Swim Club had 64 athletes participating, while both Franklin Regional Swim Team and Center Grove Aquatics Club had 24.
With all of these bigger clubs, Cameron Green, a swimmer for Jaguar Aquatics, said it’s not intimidating for him.
“For me, it’s just another day at the pool,” Green said. “Carmel is the top dog in our state, especially in swimming. When they come in with 60 to 70 athletes, it’s nothing new. For me and the rest of our team, it’s about getting out there, getting times and trying to compete with whoever is in the lane next to us. It’s a blessing to have teams like that to compete and push everybody to the next level.”
There were nine Jaguar Aquatics swimmers who competed in this meet. To Green, this Senior State will be memorable for him.
“I think it will be memorable because we did have a small group,” Green said. “We did compete with just a couple of guys that have been competing all season on our own. It’s just a bond I have with those guys.”
Both GCAT and Jaguar Aquatics will be hosting the Senior State meet again next year. This time it will be combined with Age Group State, making it into a SwimFest. Logan is confident in his team’s parents in volunteering and helping out again.
“I think when we’re all said and done when we look at our team size, we just had an awesome contribution from our parents, in terms of giving up their time,” Logan said. “One of the reasons, outside the cost of running the facility, is when we decided to do it in September, parents scheduled vacations a year out. They stepped up and made those arrangements and sacrifices, along with our swimmers who weren’t swimming. It was a team effort to make the meet run smoothly and seamlessly.”
