Smyrna Sharks Sweep the Competition

There must be something in the water at because the Smyrna Sharks keep bringing home the gold.

The city’s youth summer swim team finished the season with five first-place finishes at the state meet, a county record for the boys 15-18 100 yard-freestyle, and a time that qualifies one swimmer to compete at next summer’s Olympic trials.

The Smyrna Sharks have been around for almost 30 years, but the team has gotten stronger in the past few years, adding more swimmers and winning more competitions. Chris Lash, the Smyrna Sharks board president, has been involved with the swim team for the past 12 years.

“When I joined the team we were in the bottom division, the bronze division, and we had about 120 members on the team,” Lash said. “Over the course of the years we moved up the rankings. We started winning. We went from the bottom division to the top division, gold. We went from 120 members 12 years ago to where now we have 360 kids. It got so big we split into two teams.”

The Smyrna Sharks divided into two teams in 2010, the Hammerhead Team and the Mako Team. The two teams compete against other teams in the Cobb County Swim League. The Sharks practice an hour a day, five days a week starting in mid-May and running through July.

Lash attributes the teams’ success to the coaching staff. Sergiy Useinov serves as head coach of the Hammerhead Team while Emily Lash, Chris Lash’s daughter, serves as head coach of the Mako Team. There are also a number of rookie coaches, older Sharks who teach the younger swimmers strokes and techniques.

One parent, Dina Ruehle, said this interaction is part of the reason her kids enjoy swimming for the Smyrna Sharks.

“They are swimming with boys and girls ages five to 18,” she said in an email. “The five-year-old, and how they perform at the meet, is just as important to the team as the 18-year-old and the points they earn for the team at the meet. There is a lot of interaction between the different age groups at practice and meets. This is unique in sports and my children have made many good friends on the swim team who are older, younger, boys and girls.”

The Sharks closed out a strong season at the state meet over the weekend. The team earned five first-place finishes, two third-place finishes, four fifth-place finishes, two sixth-place finishes and two eighth-place finishes.

One swimmer, Sam Wilgus, set a record earlier in the season at the Georgia Recreation and Park Association District 5 State Qualifying Meet. Wilgus, a recent graduate of , set a district record by completing the boys 15-18 100 yard-freestyle in 49.4 seconds. Wilgus, who has competed with the Sharks since seventh grade, is modest about his accomplishments.

“It’s all good to set my name out there for other kids to try to beat later on,” he said.

Wilgus, who also competed on his high school swim team, is a year-round swimmer. He plans to swim on Towson University’s team in the fall, but said he hopes to stay involved with Smyrna Sharks when he comes home for the summer.

“You look at summer league swimming and it’s just all about fun,” he said. “And that’s why I like doing it because it takes it back to where the roots are. Pretty much all the Olympians all started somewhere and it was at summer league swimming. They didn’t just jump right in to Olympic training.”

One of the Smyrna Sharks may count herself as one of those Olympians soon. Olivia Boggs, a recent graduate of Woodward Academy, qualified for the 2012 Olympic trials for her performance in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“My goal was to make it in the 200-breaststroke and I made it in the 100-breaststroke," Boggs said. "I just remember looking at the scoreboard. I just freaked out. My mouth was wide open and I just looked over at my coach and they were all cheering.”

In June, Boggs will fly to Omaha where she will compete against other qualifiers. The top two competitors at the Omaha meet will compete for the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

“She got her start, never swam before until she got started with the Sharks,” Lash said. “That’s probably the highest level swimmer to come out of our pool so far. She’s an amazing swimmer.”

Boggs may not be the Sharks’ only Olympian. Lash said that the pool is full of talented younger swimmers as well. Some of the younger kids aren’t allowed to compete at district and state meets due to age restrictions, but they stole the show at the Cobb County Patti Wilder Meet.

“As long as I’ve been here for 12 years, this is probably one of our strongest young groups,” she said.

“Our little six and under girls didn’t lose anything for the Mako Team. They swept it this year. They won everything. They took first and second at every swim meet this year.”

Elizabeth Tilt, age 6, finished first in the girls 25 yard-backstroke. Susan Ruehle, age 6, finished third in the girls 25 yard-freestyle. Elizabeth Tilt, Susan Ruehle, Etta Rockman and Mattie Bingham competed in the five and six-year-old girls 100 yard-freestyle relay and came in first place.

In addition to the six and under girls’ strong performance, one six and under boy, Sterling Hartrich, placed third for the 25 yard-backstroke.

Lash thinks the team will only get better in the coming years.

“I attribute it to word of mouth, our team and what great coaching we have,” she said. “People have not been able to keep quiet about it. It is truly word of mouth and people saying this is the best thing they’ve ever gotten involved with.”