St. David Tritons make a mark in the water

The St. David Tritons Swim Team gives local boys and girls the chance to have fun in the pool. 

Winning isn’t bad, either.

The team is part of the Catholic Youth Sports League, the swimming division of the CYO. Upper Moreland swimmers ranging from age 5 through 15 have the chance to compete against other local swim teams.

The purpose of the St. David Tritons Swim Team is to provide a rewarding activity for its members.  However, this year’s edition of the Tritons also put together a season to remember.

The Tritons recently wrapped up an unbeaten season by capturing the conference championship. The Tritons defeated Our Lady of Good Counsel 196-178.

Tritons Chairperson Jeanette King said the championship meet became a thrilling event for her swimmers.

“It was a little crazy,” said King. “We had gone up against Our Lady of Good Counsel once before, and they were very tough. We were pretty excited to do our best, and we pretty much had every swimmer there.”

The meet was tight until the Tritons pulled away in the end.

It would be easy to understand if some of the swimmers might have been battling some nerves before the meet, but many of the Tritons are used to performing in big events.

“Most of them also swim for other leagues competitively,” King said. “They do summertime and wintertime swimming. The older kids pretty much kept the younger kids in check because they were so excited.”

The Tritons are coached by Stephanie Hopf, who is assisted by George Hopf, Lora Klein, Donna Nichlous, Deanna Romeo, Mike Schulcz and J.R. Simonds. The swimmers practice twice a week at Abington High School. Any swimmer who has the ability to swim the length of the pool is welcome to join the Tritons.

King says the program brings together a special group of boys and girls.

“Our swim team is actually unique,” said King. “It has kids that go to St. David and parish members who go to public school. All of them get to spend quality time together.  It’s wintertime, so there’s not really a sport they can do outside. It’s technically an individual sport since they compete against their own time, but it’s also a team sport.”

The swimmers for the Tritons remain loyal to the program even after their swimming days at St. David are finished. King is pleased to see many of the former swimmers return to help the current members.

“Our kids that graduated have come back to help us this year,” King said. “We have competitions during practice where the older kids show the younger kids specific strokes to get better.”

While a successful season has come to an end for the Tritons, they still have one more event on the calendar. 

The Tritons will compete in their individual championships at LaSalle University later in the month. The older swimmers will continue to sharpen their skills in the water, while King and the rest of the staff will continue to enjoy the growth of the youngsters who are thrilled to be in the pool.

“It’s funny when you watch them swim,” King said. “When they start to realize that it’s a race, their heads pop up out of the water, and they look left and right to see who they’re beating. They really have a good time, and they just want to get to the other side.”

For more information on the St. David Tritons Swim Team, e-mail Jeanette King directly at stdavidtritons@comcast.net.