EDWARDSVILLE - Summers Port Swim Club has had a long legacy that Head Coach Maddie Monroe was a part of as a child and now she is the mentor to the talented boys and girls in the program. Monroe was an Alton High graduate who had considerable swim success at the University of Arkansas.
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Monroe felt that the Sharks started hitting on all cylinders this past week against Montclaire Swim Club at Edwardsville near the halfway point of the meet.
"I think it's going a lot better than last year," Monroe said, "which I would hope so, because we have quite a bit of returners, as well as some really awesome new people, new kids, especially in the eight-and-under girls that are really promising new swimmers, so like I said, the training wheels are kind of off and we kind of know what's going on. And we have a lot of parents who also know the volunteer, being good volunteers and timers. So the sophomore season's going off really well."
The fact that SWISA will have a full, competitive schedule after the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021 is a very important happening and Monroe is very grateful for that.
"Yeah, absolutely," Monroe said. "I mean, we're finally out of the woods here and were outdoors and everybody's just excited to be back at the pool and swimming a normal regular season."
Monroe will be depending on a number of outstanding swimmers to carry the Sharks this season.
"We're obviously led by Anna Moehn, who's a senior this year," Monroe said. "She's off to the University of Pennsylvania, so it's always good when we have a (Division) I athlete leading our team. And then, obviously, Monica Wendle, who's also a senior. But we also have a great group of 13-14 boys, Erick Humphrey, Jack Middleton, Jack Gray, Stephen Stobbs, who kind of lead that core older kid group for the boys, as well as just really, really good eight-and-under girls. We have a lot of seven-year-olds that are now eight-year-olds that swam last year, so I'm really, really encouraged by that group, especially those relays, as we continue on during the season."
Of course, Monroe has some big goals she hopes the Sharks accomplish during the season.
"Always the main goal is to have fun," Monroe said. "I really cherished all my summer league meets and that's my main goal, that everyone has fun. My second goal, I always tell these guys is, to be a good teammate, not only a great teammate but also a good competitor. That's always my goal. I want to instill all these kids to be somebody that their teammates can count on. And then, it's just get better every day. I had that conversation with the kids yesterday and my older kids is that every day, we're just chipping away and getting better each day."
The main thing, of course, is turning the kids loose and having fun while in the pool.
"Absolutely," Monroe said. "We'll have our blast, I love having Patrick (Moehn) and Anna (Moehn) coaching with me and every day, we're all smiles on the pool deck. Just really looking forward to the rest of the year and it's a fast eight weeks. So we've got our work cut out for us, but we're really excited."
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
