The Manheim Summer Swim Team wrapped up a very successful season last month, going undefeated in its competitions. But for head coach Sarah Griffith, the sport is about much more than winning.

"My focus for the team is to have fun and make memories," she said. "For a lot of our kids, swimming isn't their main sport; however, they enjoy the social community we've created. Since it's summer, I want low pressure for the kids. I want them to get exercise and improve their swimming, but I equally want them to laugh and make memories with their friends."

Griffith knows what she's talking about.

"The space there has given me so many positive memories and friendships when I was a kid swimming on the same swim team," she said. "I still have those friendships today. In fact, the assistant coach and I grew up swimming together at Manheim and have been close friends for more than 30 years. The summer swim team is what started that friendship. I want to create an environment to do the same for others."

There were 107 kids on the team this summer, mostly students from the Manheim area. The season ran for about 10 weeks, from mid-May through the end of July.

"The unique thing about the summer swimming program is kids ages 5 to 18 all get to be on the same team," Griffith shared. "It's fun to see all the ages cheer each other on at swim meets. My favorite part of the swim meet is during the relays as the last event and kids from both teams line the pool cheering on their relay teams. As a coach, seeing that, is in my opinion a win no matter the score at the end. Again, it goes back to the focus of making positive friendships and supporting each other."

The sense of camaraderie is important to Griffith.

"I think that's one of the reasons for our success this year. There is no doubt we have some really talented swimmers who have done well this season. In addition, we try to make them want to show up for practice and swim meets," she said, noting that there are no requirements to attend practice or compete in meets, but the team members understand that the more kids who show up, the more likely the team will score points. "We like to make the swim meets a fun experience that they want to be there for. It's not about how much time they drop; to me it's about showing up and giving it your best while also cheering on each other."

The Manheim team is part of the Lancaster Summer Swim League, which includes 21 teams, all from Lancaster County. Manheim is in division three.

"We had six dual meets, which we won all of them," Griffith shared. "Because of that, we will move up to division two next summer. Each division does the same; the team with most wins moves up, and the team with most losses moves down a division."

This is Griffith's third summer as coach, a role she took up after her oldest son began swimming.

"Once I started coaching, I ended up loving it," she said, noting that Manheim has had a summer swim team since the 1960s. "After the Manheim pool closed to the community in 2021, the team was much smaller. My first year in 2023, we had 55 kids. Last year we grew to 87 and this summer again grew to 107. I put our growth to getting the information out within the schools that we are still here even though the pool isn't open to the public."

And she's not content to stop with 100-plus swimmers.

"I'd love to see this team continue to grow," she said. "I'd love to see our community with a summer pool again for the public to use. I know there is a lot of work ahead if we are to bring a thriving community pool back again, but the benefits we've seen in our families and swimmers from having a place to come for movement, fun and friendships could be an asset to this town."