The Grown-Up Swimming League in Montgomery County is about to make another big splash. The league kicks off its second season Sunday. Ten teams from the County will compete. The first meet will take place at Tallyho Swim & Tennis Club in Potomac followed by three more meets:
- June 16 at Inverness Recreation Club in Potomac
- June 30 at Tanterra Pool in Brookeville
- July 14 at Regency Estates Swim Club in Potomac
All meets start at 9 a.m. Warm-ups take place an hour earlier. The Championship event is scheduled for July 21 at the Rockville Swim Center at 8:30 a.m. but could start sooner depending on participation.
League Expansion
The league has expanded its footprint into northern Virginia. Besides the 10 teams in Montgomery County, three teams from northern Virginia will compete. Those teams will then participate in the Championship event in Rockville.
The Grown-Up Swimming League is for people ages 18 and older. A person does not have to be an accomplished swimmer to join the league. Swimmers with a variety of skills are welcome and encouraged to join.
Last year, more than 175 swimmers participated. So far, 294 swimmers are signed up to compete this summer, and organizers believe by the end of the season, they will top 300. Registration is still open and will be all summer. Swimmers can still form teams if they want.
Swim Meet Details
The swimmers range in age from 18 to over 80. Swimmers compete in their appropriate age groups. They are swimming similar events to what people would see during a typical Summer League swim meet. However, races are either 25 or 50 meters. People will compete in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. There also will be 100 meter individual medley races, and two 100 meter relays.
Lauren Eldridge is with Grown-up Swimming. She is the Regional Head ‘Grown-Up’ for the DMV. She hopes people will give the league a try.
“The main thing is that our league is all about having fun. We talked about how we have swimmers of all ages. But we also have swimmers of every ability level. People who cannot swim more than 25 meters all the way up to Olympic Trials qualifiers. What’s really great is that everyone is there for the same reason, which is just having fun,” Eldridge said.
“One of the great things about swimming is that it is one of the few sports that provide someone a total body, cardio and strength workout. But it’s also very low impact. So a lot of people end up coming either back to swimming or start swimming, because they cannot handle more high impact sports,” she added.
How To Participate
The League hopes swimmers will not be shy about joining. Even if swimmers cannot participate in the individual meets, they can still swim in the Championship event. There are no qualifying times. However, the Championship meet will reward the top teams. The top three teams will receive trophies and the winning team also will receive championship towels for everyone on their team.
For more information, visit grownupswimming.com/dmv.
