Swimming important

EDITOR:

On behalf of USA Swimming and the youth of our community, we want to thank the Carson Valley Swim Center staff, and Director Kirk Chiapella, for their support and assistance last weekend. The annual St. Valentine swim meet, held Feb. 12-14 at CVSC, brought to our community over 370 competitive swimmers ages 5-18 - and their families - from all over Northern Nevada and as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area, Mammoth Lakes, and Winnemucca. The swimmers had a great time as they achieved many new heights in their chosen sport, while enjoying the hospitality and other attractions of our beautiful valley.

Established in 1964, the Douglas Dolfins Swim Team (www.ddst.org) is one of about a dozen nonprofit USA Swimming teams in Northern Nevada (and over 2,500 nationwide). These teams provide year-round programs of training and competition for all levels of athletes, from beginners to national contenders. Nearly every U.S. Olympic swimmer, including Michael Phelps, started out on one of these local teams. Besides paying for water time and coaches, team parents volunteer countless hours to conduct meets and other activities, serve as board members, and generally manage the team.

Besides the immediate benefits of water safety and physical health, competitive swimming teaches many lifelong skills such as teamwork, goal-setting, time management, sportsmanship, strong work ethics, courage and self-confidence, and mental and physical self-discipline. As many lap-swimmers at CVSC already know, swimming often becomes a lifelong activity when started early.

USA Swimming meets, like those held three to four times per year at the swim center - plus Douglas High School meets held during the spring - provide the athletes opportunities to demonstrate the results of all their hard work, test the new skills and strength they have been gaining, and push each other toward their goals (many Carson Valley athletes participate in both programs). Goals can include swimming a new stroke, finishing a longer distance, swimming faster times to qualify for championship meets, obtaining college scholarships, etc. We are very fortunate to have a state-of-the-art aquatics facility in Carson Valley that can and does support such programs for the betterment of our youth and community, along with a full spectrum of other public aquatics programs. All the credit for this goes to the residents, board, and staff of the East Fork Swimming Pool District (www.cvswim.com).

We know that swim meets do impact other users of the swim center, especially during the indoor season, and we appreciate everyone's patience and support. We hope that the numerous lasting benefits to the youth of our community and region, not to mention the local economic boost, make the temporary inconvenience easier to bear.

Douglas Dolfins Swim Team Board of Directors

Minden