When asked to name some of the individuals who led his team’s ninth Chattanooga Area Swim League city meet championship in 10 years, Signal Mountain Green Giants coach Matt Limerick was at a loss for words.
It wasn’t that there weren’t plenty of high-point scorers to choose from – Jewel Gordon, Emily Pritchard, Jamee Mitchum, Emily Cole and Sam McHugh, to name a few. It was that Limerick, a first-year coach after nine years of participating, was still stuck in the moment.
“It was going to be a real close meet, especially with Stuart Heights,” said Limerick, whose team won with 2,949.5 points to 2,728 for Stuart Heights. “They’ve become a good rival with us. This is the most exciting city meet I’ve been a part of. It’s a totally different perspective as a coach. I got more nervous just driving to this meet than I did participating in them when I swam.”
Dalton, the host for the event held this year at the Arlene Crye Pool at Gilbert Stephenson Park in Fort Oglethorpe, finished third with 1,497.5 points, followed by Ringgold and the Fairyland Club.
Signal Mountain held a 302-point lead after a huge Friday session, and though Stuart Heights closed the gap with a late surge Saturday, a strong morning session all but clinched the title for Limerick and crew.
“We did have a huge Friday, but today was just as huge,” he said. “We had a big morning session, and our strongest age groups were the 13-14 guys, 13-14 girls, senior guys and our 8-under girls. Those are our stud age groups.”
The other big winner this weekend was Fort Oglethorpe, which proved it could host an event with nearly 900 competitors. Meet director Rob Cushman of the Carpet Capital Aquatic Club was duly impressed.
“It went great. I’ve had so many people tell me it was just an unbelievable venue to hold it,” Cushman said. “The city was great to work with. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.
“Even the weather worked out great. We usually have storms interrupt us, but they hit during our break each day. Our club, Carpet Capital, was extremely happy, and we would love to have it here again.”