To do the best they can

The swimming season has ended and school is in progress even though Labor Day has not yet arrived.

Learning to swim their best was the challenge for those participating in the Nevada Neptunes, which is a good program for the youth involved. It provides good experiences and learning opportunities.

Last year, we had two grandchildren participating, Dalton and Ashton. They participated again this year and Morgan also became involved. As a result, I was more aware of the program and observed it more. One of the things that made a big impression was the parental involvement. There were several parents who were dedicated to the program and who were there to help with the practice sessions.

There seems to be a good relationship among the parents and the participants. They were all there for the support of all and gave encouragement to others.

There were two local dual meets. I was out of town for one of them, but the one that I attended was interesting. It takes a large number of individuals to help with the meets, serving as time keepers, judges, runners and score keepers. There were sufficient numbers to help and they were willing to assist. They were also giving encouragement to each swimmer, regardless if they were winners or were slower swimmers, compared with others. It was a well-coordinated event.

Each one of the swim meets provided good experiences and was beneficial to each person participating; however, I did not attend any of the out-of-town meets, althouth they provided a good social experience for the participants and parents who did attend.

It took an effort for the parents (and/or grandparents) to get the kids to the practice sessions and to pick them up after the practices. Practicing five days a week taught the kids discipline as well as swimming skills. Some mornings the weather was chilly, making swimming uncomfortable.

The Nevada Neptunes Swim Team president this year was Bill Denman. I had the opportunity to visit with Bill the other day about the Neptunes season. He was among the dedicated parents who put much time and effort into the program. He is enthusiastic about the kids involved in the swimming program and the progress they made during the season.

This year, there were 100 on the roster with 88 swimming at meets, and 66 made the tri-state qualifying times. They have to swim in two invitational meets to qualify to swim in the tri-state event, which 45 accomplished. Thirty-five swimmers completed at tri-state with six of them making it to the finals. Last year there were three in the finals.

Two years ago there were 29 participants. Last year there were 75 on the roster and 45 participating in the swim meets. Bill contributes the increase to a good parent core, with the participants having good experiences last year and by word of mouth.

Karen Claypool has been the coach for the past two years. Her experience includes competing in college. Having her two years in a row has improved the program and having a continuation will help in the long term. Stephen Hibner, a swimmer in college, and Lacy Leonard were assistant coaches.

Fund-raising events are held by the Neptunes each year. Bill said that these funds are used to pay lifeguards and coaches. The fees that the swimmers pay to participate are also used to pay the lifeguards and coaches. The fund-raisers help to reduce the fees paid by the swimmers.

Bill said that they had excellent cooperation from the Parks and Recreation Department and the city. They have been very good to them.

As indicated previously, it takes a lot of parent work to do duals. The team participated in three duals; two of them were hosted locally. The duals resulted in the 88 participating in meets. He expressed appreciation for a Fort Scott group coming over to a meet. They are in a different conference and conduct meets differently there. He hopes that the Nevada team will be invited to Fort Scott next year. It is good to compete against a different team, rather than facing the same ones each time.

Each swimmer is swimming for their best time. Improvement could be seen in their times. When they improve their time, they are awarded for it, receiving best time stickers. They are continually awarded for doing better.

Century Theater awards tickets to the swimmer of the week, which is a fine recognition. The group is divided into three levels. The coach in each level selects the swimmer of the week. He expressed thanks to many people for their support and help. He recognized the fundraiser as being possible by the courtesy of Murphy Brown Farms. Many dollars were raised from a drawing.

There were lots of best times this year. Bill named several kids who are good swimmers and competed well. He also named several others who might not be winners in a match, but they kept improving and did well for them.

The program teaches them to do their selves better regardless of next lane or team mates -- doing the best they can do. It is fun to win, but the emphasis is on doing the best they can do. They know it on the inside if they have done well.

Their Web site is www.nevadaneptunes.org .