Two weekends ago, the Northampton KIDS Swim Club traveled to Newark, DE, to compete in the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Short Course Yards Silver Championship Meet.

Over 550 swimmers from USA Swim Clubs across the Mid-Atlantic region, including 15 swimmers from Northampton’s KIDS Club, descended on the University of Delaware for three days of competition. The meet was full of personal bests and new milestones for the Northampton swimmers, with four team members qualifying for final heats resulting in 10 medals overall for the KIDS Swim Club.

All attending swimmers achieved qualifying times during the regular swim season and joined some of the top swimmers in the Mid-Atlantic region for this final, culminating event.

The meet began Friday evening with long-distance events, including the 400 individual medley and 500 freestyle events. Among the highlights of Friday’s events were KIDS Club swimmer Gigi Esteban, who placed 13th in the girls 13-14 500 freestyle, Josiah Hippert, with a 7th place finish in the boys 13-14 500 freestyle, and Logan Saylor, who placed 4th in the boys 13-14 400 individual medley.

Saturday and Sunday brought preliminary heats of various stroke events ranging in yardage from 50 yards to 200 yards and resulting in the top 16 swimmers advancing to A and B final events on the respective evenings. Northampton’s Hippert earned seven medals overall and qualified for an A Final appearance in each of his six individual events. Hippert placed 2nd overall in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, and 200 butterfly events. The Butterfly is one of Hippert’s favorite strokes because, as he explained, he, “enjoys pushing [himself] in one of the most technically difficult and physically demanding strokes.”

Hippert also claimed a 4th place finish in the 100 backstroke, a 5th place finish in the 100 backstroke, and 6th place in the 200 freestyle events. He was awarded the high-point trophy for the 13 and 14-year-old boys’ age group overall.

Attributing his wins to hard work, Hippert explained, “I work at my craft. I go to the gym and get perspectives from others to help my performance. I spend most of my time working on getting better.”

With his hard work paying off, the future of Hippert’s swimming career looks bright, and he hopes to continue competing in high school, college and beyond.

In other highlights, Saylor’s performance in the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly events placed him in the A Finals. He also participated in the B Finals in the 50 freestyle event. Saylor came away with three medals, including 2nd place in the 100 butterfly and 6th place in the 100 breaststroke events, in addition to his distance event 4th place finish.

Saylor concurs that hard work is a core driver of his success, adding the need to, “show up for practice every day and work hard. You can’t think that you can take a day off and it won’t have an impact.” Saylor adds, but also admits with a smile, that he also enjoys the social aspect of the sport and competing with his teammates.

Head coach of the KIDS Swim Club, Amy LeFever, beamed as she reflected on the season and the championship meet. She said she, “could not have asked for anything more from the team this year.” She added that the team “worked hard and really improved, and they proved that to both USA Swimming and themselves this season.”

This season, her focus with the team has been on the mechanics of the stroke and ensuring the team did not sacrifice “technique for speed.”

But there was no lack of speed for the KIDS Club in this weekend’s events, with 48 of 81 individual events yielding a season-best time and performances, such as the B Final appearances of Northampton KIDS Nick Isaac and Ryan Franke. Isaac, a 15-year-old athlete who has been swimming competitively since age 6, joined the KIDS Club 3 years ago. Isaac made the consolation final in the 200 backstroke event on Sunday evening. Isaacs commented that he enjoyed the champs meet and the opportunity to, “improve on his best times and bond with his teammates.”

Franke achieved spots in the B Finals for the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, and 50 freestyle events. Franke is a 17-year-old swimmer who began his swimming career six years ago with the KIDS Swim Club. Looking back on his best event of the weekend, the 100 breaststroke, Franke, “was pleased with a fast start and good turns,” but acknowledged, “there is always room for improvement.” A sentiment with which his team obviously agrees. While this championship event ended the most competitive portion of the swim season, the work does not end there for these swimmers. After only one day of rest, the KIDS Swim Club was back in the pool the following Tuesday for the start of a more relaxed spring training session before their summer swim season begins in May.

Registrations for the KIDS Summer Swim Team will open soon on the club’s website at www.NorthamptonSwim.com.