NEWPORT BEACH : Diving Into the Spirit of Competition
Like most children, Danielle McDermott grew up equating summer vacation with swimming for fun. But today, the 10-year-old Newport Beach resident will swim with competition in mind.
At 3 p.m., The Wave, the city’s new summer swim team, will have its first swim meet at Corona del Mar High School’s Marian Bergeson Pool. Danielle is one of 95 young people who will compete in the team’s maiden meet.
Like Danielle, many members of the club--operated by the city’s Department of Parks, Beaches and Recreation--will be making their debuts in competitive swimming.
Danielle says that prospect doesn’t make her nervous.
“I don’t really feel scared,” she said. “You should just try your best and maybe you’ll win something. It’s fun to know that some people do better than others.”
The Wave is part of the summer session of the city-run Newport Beach Aquatics Club, a year-round swim team formed last November under head coach Ted Bandaruk.
Bandaruk, who teaches at Orange Coast College and has coached swimming for 25 years, said the club started with about 10 members and two coaches. That number swelled to almost 100 members and seven coaches when school let out in June, he said.
The members work out from one to three hours a day, five days a week, working toward the championship finals on Aug. 8 in Lake Forest.
More than half the members, who range in age from 5 to 18, are under 11 years old. Requirements for team membership include a $100 fee--$15 of which goes for membership in United States Swimming Inc., the national governing body for swim teams--and the ability to swim the length of the pool.
“We have a lot of young novice competitors,” Bandaruk said. “Some come in holding their mother’s hand, but they adjust after about a week. And we’re not trying to get our gold medal. We’re just trying to develop a good, solid area swim team.”
Today’s tri-meet is with the Lake Forest II team, one of two teams in that city, and the Harbor View Swim Team of Newport Beach. About 400 swimmers are expected to participate.
Six other teams in the South Coast Swim Conference are spread throughout other sections of Newport Beach, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Irvine.
“We live in such an aquatic area that it’s good for children to develop knowledge of competitive strokes,” said Bandaruk. “It also develops self-discipline, healthy bodies and self-esteem.”
Danielle said she wanted to join the club to learn to swim better, get stronger and lose weight. But she didn’t expect it to “be so hard,” she said.
“It’s a lot of work swimming all those laps,” Danielle said. “Your eyes hurt, you can hardly walk, and you’re drowsy. But I go home, relax, watch TV and go to bed, then wake up feeling energetic.”
After just eight days of working out, she notices a big improvement.
“I can do my strokes faster, and my arms feel stronger,” Danielle said. “It makes me feel proud.
“I think I’ll like competing,” she added. “I’m pretty good now, but I’d like to be the best person on the team.”
For more information on The Wave, call (714) 644-3249.