Cary, NC – Did you grow up swimming at the Cary Swim Club? Generations of town residents have enjoyed that quintessential summertime pleasure, dating back to 1963. This Saturday, Cary Swim Club is holding their 50th Anniversary Celebration and you’re invited.

Cary Swim Club Celebrates 50 Years

From Cary Swim Club:

Join us at Cary Swim Club on May 19th from 1-3 PM and help us celebrate 50 years of swimming, family recreation and fun in the Cary community!

There will be lots of fun games and activities for the kids, music from the Cary High band, a ceremony to honor the founding club and swim team members, as well as a visit from Cary’s Mayor.

All guest fees will be waived for the day and members are encouraged to bring their neighbors, families and friends, so please help us spread the word!

Calling All Volunteers

Lots of volunteers will be needed to help run the games and set up the facilities. Please send an email to 50thanniversary@Caryswimclub.org to volunteer or for more information on how you can help.

Event Details

Cary Swim Club – 5oth Anniversary
Saturday, May 19, 2012
1-3 PM

536 Walnut Street
Cary, NC 27511
Cost: Free

Story by Hal Goodtree. Special thanks to Mary DeMilia. Photo by Lost-In-Maylene.

Cary, NC – For 25 years, Swim Across America (SAA) has been raising money for fight cancer. Now, with the support of Triangle Aquatic Center, this iconic event is coming to Cary on May 20, 2012. Show your support by signing up or sponsoring a swimmer.

The One-Legged Man Who Ran Across America

From SAA:

Swim Across America is the inspired sequel to a triumphant Run Across America completed by the two founders of SAA in 1985. This eight-month journey, which spanned the country from Boston to Los Angeles, raised over $1 million for cancer research.

What makes this trek all the more remarkable is that one of the determined runners, a 22-year-old from Fairfield, CT, had lost his right leg to cancer a decade before. Following college graduation, these two childhood buddies embarked on their mission, making history in the process. Together, they instilled hope in all who fight this disease and heightened consciousness about overcoming this frightening diagnosis.

It was in 1987 that Jeff Keith and Matt Vossler decided to bring their cause back home and transitioned from running to swimming for a cure. With a focus on raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment, Swim Across America was chartered as a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

25 Years and $41 Million Later

Twenty five years later, SAA has raised over $41 million dollars. SAA funds almost two dozen prestigious organizations across the country including Sloan-Kettering in New York, San Francisco Children’s Hospital,  Johns Hopkins, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Swim Across America in Cary

SAA has dozens of events across the country, each with its own flavor. In San Francisco, they swim under the Golden Gate Bridge.

In Cary, Triangle Aquatic Center has donated the 50m competition pool for the event on Sunday, May 20, 2012.

SAA/Cary is more than just swimming:

• Silent auction (includes signed basketballs, birthday packages, and Disney Tickets)
• Fun relays (including kids relays, parent-child, and grandparent-child)
• Swim clinic by 3 former Olympians

Sign-Up, Donate or Volunteer

You can sign up as an individual or as a team. If you don’t want to swim, you can make a donation to SAA or sponsor a swimmer.

Lots of volunteers are needed as well – lifeguards, timers and organizational help.

Visit SAA/Cary for more info.

Event Details

Swim Across America
Sunday, May 20, 2012
1 – 6 PM

Triangle Aquatic Center
275 Convention Drive
Cary, NC 27511

More info

Story from staff reports. Photos by Marvin.

Cary, NC – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association held its Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend at Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Marvin of The M Factor sent in these photos.

NCHSSA 2012 Swimming and Diving Championships

Areas schools did well, especially the women’s teams. Panther Creek placed 2nd over with 190 points.  Apex followed in third place, Cary was 4th and Green Hope placed 5th. A total of 39 teams from across the state participated in the 4A division.

On the men’s side, Cary High placed 8th and Apex 10th.

Pictures

Story by Hal Goodtree. File photo by Karl Fisher.

Cary, NC – It’s one of the biggest swim meets of the year. Over 600 swimmers from West Virginia to West Texas have converged on Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary for the Southern Zones Championship meet.

USA Swimming Southern Zone Championship

USA Swimming divides the country into four zones – Eastern, Western, Central and Southern.

The Southern Zone Championship at TAC is called an Age Group meet – swimmers from 11-18 who have been nominated by their local swimming clubs.

These kids are the swimming champions and Olympians of tomorrow.

Economic Impact

Meets like the Southern Zone Championship bring hundreds of families and guests to Cary and the Triangle.

The Southern Zone Championship began on Tuesday and runs through Saturday.

Public Welcome

Ronnie Roach, the Safety Marshall for the meet, wrote to CaryCitizen inviting the public for an athlete parade before the finals on Friday night. Finals start at 5:30 PM. More prelims and finals on Saturday as well.

Daily admission is $5 for adults and $2 for kids and seniors. More info at TAC.

Cary, NC – In the past week, our intrepid crew of CaryCitizen photographers captured high school swimming, diving, boys and girls basketball, wrestling and roller hockey. That’s why we call it Wide World of Cary Sports.

Swimming

Karl Fisher visited the pool at Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary for the NCHSAA Swim 4A Regionals.

See more Girls Swimming 4A Regionals pictures on Citizen-Photo.

Diving

Karl also got out to see the NCHSAA 4A-East Girls Regional Diving, 1M board at Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh.

Cary was well-represented in the top three finishers:

1. Madeline Martin – Junior, Middle Creek
2. Emilie Mathura -  Junior, Green Hope
3. Samantha Zeitler – Sophomore, Wake

See more Girls Diving 4A Regionals pictures on Citizen-Photo.

Boys Basketball

Suzie Wolf got out to Cary High for Senior Night. The Imps boys basketball squad scotched Lee County 46 to 30.

See more pictures at Suzie Wolf: SmugMug.

Roller Hockey

Finally, in a first for CaryCitizen, we have boys roller hockey, Green Hope vs. Apex, from Chris Adamczyk.

More Roller Hockey pictures on Citizen-Photo.

Wrestling

It was Cary HS vs Panther Creek and Suzie Wolf was there. She filed this report: “Panther Creek won and broke a duel meet record of over 20 years of Cary wins (It was Cary’s first home regular-season loss since 1982 (409 straight matches) and first conference loss since 1990. It will mark the first time Cary has not won a conference title since 1983.)
It came down to the last match of the night.”

See more pictures at Suzie Wolf: SmugMug.

Girls Basketball

Middle Creek bested Cary High in girls basketball. The score was 36-33.

See more pictures at Suzie Wolf: SmugMug.

Photos by Suzie Wolf and Chris Adamczyk.

Cary, NC – This week, the Wide World of Cary Sports takes a look at Tri-9 swimming, diving and gymnastics.

Gymnastics

Green Hope, Panther Creek and Cary High all competed in the Tri-9 meet at Raleigh School of Gymnastics. Chris Adamczyk was there.

See more gymnastics photos.

Swimming & Diving

Suzie Wolf focused on Tri-9 swimming and diving.

See more Swimming and Diving photos.

Meet Results

Meet results by school based on total points.

Boys

1. Green Hope 685.5
2. Apex  501
3. Panther Creek 450.5
4. Cary 332
5. Athens Drive 277
6. Fuquay-Varina 150
7. Holly Springs 144
8. Middle Creek 130
9. Lee County 116

Girls:

1. Apex 520.5
2. Green Hope 496.5
3. Cary 473
4. Athens Drive 392
5. Panther Creek  327
6. Middle Creek 310
7. Holly Springs 145
8. Fuquay-Varina 42
9. Lee County 37

Story by Lindsey Chester, photos by Chris Adamczyk

Cary, NC-  Some of the country’s fastest young swimmers dove into some fierce competition this past weekend (Dec 17-19) in the 18th annual  TYR Capital Classic  at the Triangle Aquatics Center (TAC) in Cary.

The YMCA of the Triangle Area (YOTA) Swim Team hosted  this event which drew more than 400 swimmers from nine states.

“This (was) a great opportunity for the community to see some of the country’s best young swimmers,” says Chad Onken, YOTA Head Coach. “This is historically one of the fastest swim meets in North Carolina.”

The Capital Classic is one of the largest and most competitive YMCA meets outside of YMCA Nationals. These top-notch swimmers are ages 12 – 18. All five top teams from the YMCA National Championships, including the YOTA Swim Team, attended along with five members of the USA National Youth Team and 12 Olympic Trial qualifiers (2012). College recruiters from Division I and Division II schools were in attendance as well.

The YOTA Swim Team has a 40-year tradition of competitive swimming in the Triangle. Several YOTA swimmers have accepted college scholarships to such universities as Princeton, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, Virginia Tech and Florida State University.

Here’s the Team results:

Team Scores – Overall
1. Sarasota YMCA Sharks 2615 (Sarasota FL)
2. YMCA of the Triangle Area 1464 (Raleigh NC)
3. Y-Spartaquatics Swim Club 1125 (Spartanburg SC)
4. Wilton Y Wahoos Swim Club 902 (Wilton CT)

Top Men team scores
1. Sarasota YMCA Sharks 1099
2. YMCA of the Triangle Area 872
3. Lynchburg YMCA 509 (Lynchburg VA)
4. Wilton Y Wahoos Swim Club 494

Top women team scores -
1. Sarasota YMCA Sharks 1516
2. Y-Spartaquatics Swim Club 660
3. YMCA of the Triangle Area 592
4. Wilton Y Wahoos Swim Club 408

YOTA swimmer Michael Hughes Set a New U.S. Record

On Friday, YOTA swimmer Michael Hughes, member of the 2010 U.S. Paralympic Team, set a new U.S. record in the 50 butterfly.

High Point Individual Scores

Dominick Glavich (YOTA and Green Hope High School swimmer) was the high point winner for the men, and Ashlee Linn (Sarasota) was the high point winner for the women.

More Capital Classic Pictures

For more photos of the race, go to CitizenPhoto.com.

Cary, NC – Once again, it’s time for another installment of the Wide World of Cary Sports.

This past week, photographer Suzie Wolf captured Cary High basketball and wrestling plus a Tri-9 swim meet at Triangle Aquatic Center.

See More from This Week

See lots more of Suzie’s photos from this week’s Wide World of Cary Sports.

• Wrestling
• Basketball
• Swimming

Cary, NC — On Sunday, October 17, members of the YMCA of the Triangle Area (YOTA) Swim Team will trade their goggles for aprons as they take over the Great Harvest Bread Company in Cary to raise money for children who cannot otherwise afford to participate in YMCA swim programs.

The swimmers will make and sell the bread from 10 am – 4  pm at the bakery located at 1220 NW Maynard Rd.

“We know this hands-on method of raising funds will be a great way for our swimmers to see how they can make a positive difference in our own backyard,” said Chad Onken, YOTA Head Coach. “It is also a wonderful way for our swimmers to have some fun and meet people in the community. We are thankful to Tom and Paige Williams for letting us ‘take over’ the bakery for this great cause.”

The YMCA of the Triangle Area Swim Team (YOTA) has 40-year tradition of excellence in competitive swimming. This year-round swim team emphasizes teamwork, sportsmanship and personal achievement. Nearly 350 youth participate in the YOTA program.

100% of the proceeds from the October 17 fundraiser will go toward the YOTA general fund which offsets costs for the majority of children in the program.

It seems appropriate that YOTA partner with Great Harvest for this event. Great Harvest’s made-from-scratch whole-grain breads provide excellent sources of complex carbohydrates, have no fat or cholesterol, and have been proven to be stars in weight control and disease prevention.

Drop by Great Harvest this Sunday, October 17 from 10-4 to support YOTA and affordable aquatic sports for kids.

Photos by Tom Mousseau

Cary, NC- This past Memorial Day weekend, the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC) hosted the eighth annual Black Heritage Swim Meet attended by over 730 swimmers from 40 teams based all over the country. The race was hosted by the N.C. Aquablazers with 10 teams and 104 swimmers.

Swim Meet Slideshow

Tom Mousseau filed this photographic slideshow of the competition:

Even more photos (57 total) are in the Black Hertage Meet master set.

Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

According to a U.S.A. Swimming survey, a very high percentage of minority children can’t swim. Black children aged 5-14 drown at 3.1 times the overall rate for white children.

“This (meet) would help us achieve our mission of lowering the drowning statistics for minority swimmers and encouraging more minority swimmers to swim competitively,” Meet Director Kathy Cooper said.

The study as reported in the Wall Street Journal on May 27, went on to cite that the biggest barrier to swimming proficiency isn’t just lack of pools but also parents’ fear of the water translating to not promoting swim lessons for their children. An event of this nature can help to turn that statistic around. The proceeds benefit swim lessons for those that can’t afford it.

The meet organizers  asked 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Maritza Correia and 2008 Gold Medalist Cullen Jones to sign autographs and host several swimming clinics. Correia is the first black woman to win an Olympic medal in swimming; Jones, an N.C. State University graduate, is the first black athlete to win swimming gold.