Tampa Bay Aquatics

As we have had a pretty cold winter season so far, I’ve
established a Polar Bear Club. When the temperature
drops below 50° F, I’ll hand out polar bear patches to
every swimmer who attends!

Our swimmers were busy and successful during December
– first in Gainesville, then in St Pete. The kids are competing
very well and are excited that the next few meets will be
held locally. We also had our team Christmas party at the
Westchase Swim and Tennis Center on Dec. 16. It was
great to get all the kids and families together in a non-swim
meet environment for some holiday fun! Over winter
break from school, we practiced in the morning and the
kids did a great job with the challenging workouts!

Swimmers of the Month for December were Kory Kimura
for the novice group and Michelle Turek for the Age
Groupers. Kory comes from a family of swimmers. His
brothers, Kent and Kyle, are already accomplished
competitors, creating a lot of pressure for a 6-year-old
like Kory to live up to. But don’t worry about Kory! He
is always smiling and shows a lot of natural ability.

Michelle just turned 12 and is already swimming very
fast! Michelle won almost every event she swam in
Orlando. Two weeks later she rolled into Gainesville
and swam best times in every event, winning the
50 Free. Way to go, Michelle!

Other swimmers who performed well in December
were Kyle Kimura, Jocelyn Williams, Austin Sellers,
Jabari Ramsey, Jared Young, Sujay Pillai, Kent Kimura,
Margret Shumake, Megan Gross, Andre Stevao,
Maddy Strasen and Paige Carter.

Keep dressing warmly and working hard, swimmers,
and springtime will be here before you know it!

By Kelley Allen, Director of Competitive Swimming