There are certain things in this world that are all but guaranteed.
When it comes to the Chattanooga Area Swim League, you can just about bet that no team in the White Division will ever win a City Meet title. The odds are pretty good they won't even finish in the top five teams.
But when it comes to measuring a good learning experience and a chance for youngsters to have fun in a summer league environment, those teams in the White division will win hands down every time.
Such was the case at Big Ridge Thursday night.
The Raiders entered their meet with Fort Oglethorpe with one win in four meets. The Marlins haven't won a meet all summer. But if you didn't know better, you'd have thought these two were battling for Olympic medals or a world championship with the way they competed.
Yes, the host Raiders did win he meet with 366 points while the Marlins headed home with 315, but winning and losing swim meets to these guys is the farthest thing from their minds.
If they give their best effort and they have fun in the process, it's been a victorious event all the way around.
"We had to fill a few gaps, but the younger kids did a great job of stepping up and we showed a lot of improvement tonight," said Christine Anderson, the coach of the Raiders who is working as a realtor in Chattanooga after graduating from the University of Miami where she swam for the Hurricanes.
"We were missing a lot of kids, but we did a whole lot better than I thought we'd do, but we just let them have fun. Our goal is to try our best and to compete, but having fun is the bottom line," she added.
Rachel Felton will be a junior at Alabama in the fall, but this 20-year-old is having the time of her life coaching summer swimmers.
"I'm really proud of them all and I'm happy that we didn't thrown in tonight. We'll celebrate with doughnuts at practice tomorrow morning, but these kids have really been working hard and they've made a lot of progress," Felton nodded.
Tony Womack has been the coach for the Marlins for a number of years and he simply refuses to not have a good time as he patrols the pool deck during a meet. He knows that winning is nice, but it's not everything.
"Our kids swam their hearts out tonight. We've made a lot of improvement in just the last two weeks as we're hitting our stride at just the right time," he said while the freestyle relays were winding down.
"We're down on numbers this year, but I can't ask for any more from these kids. We don't have any 13-14 boys and only two girls in that age group, so we're giving away a lot of points in those races alone. But the kids don't care about that as they're awesome," he added.
Eight-year-old MaeMae Powe was the leading scorer for Big Ridge with 19 points while older brother Sam was next with 17. Ava Bourn and Abbey Vernon also scored 17 points for the winners.
Brandon Edge and Miah Lee paced the Fort Oglethorpe effort with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Reece Gallagher and Joshua Carney both finished with 17 each.
IN OTHER MEETS ON THURSDAY, the Fairyland Flash remained unbeaten in the Red Division following a 472-274 win at Red Bank. Country Club improved to 3-2 in the Red with a 78-point win over the Waterdogs.
Stuart Heights evened its record at 3-3 with a 401-347 victory over visiting Cleveland in the Blue Division while Ridgeside improved to 5-1 in the White Division with a 398-313 win at Cumberland.
BIG RIDGE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- MaeMae Powe
17 -- Sam Powe, Ava Bourn, Abbey Vernon
16 -- Taylor Milliron
15 -- Alyssa Slater, Julia Quernemoen
14 -- Robert Alford
13 -- Emily Thomson
12 -- Catherine Alford, Claire Calhoun, Jacob Thalos, Hunter Sakson
11 -- Anna Thomson, Catherine Upchurch
10 -- Caleb Sievers.
FORT OGLETHORPE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Brandon Edge
18 -- Miah Lee
17 -- Reece Gallagher, Joshua Carney
15 -- Hailey Burgess, Timothy DeBord
13 -- Carson Cloud, Ryan Berry
12 -- Elizabeth Edge, Lance Marshall
10 -- Allison Head, Emily Brock.
RIDGESIDE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Sophia Albarakat
17 -- Jane Anne Haywood
15 -- Madeline Bond, Madison Tumblin
13 -- Elizabeth Hall
10 -- Sarah Barringer, Emma Davidson
CUMBERLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Ester Morris
18 -- Jeremy Morris
16 -- Lucas Tomlinson
15 -- Haily Bell, Kari Morris
14 -- Liam Carpenter
13 -- Brendan Greene
12 -- Elaine MacDougall, Emma Pack
11 -- James Shone.
FAIRYLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Mary Margaret Arrowsmith, Frances Bohner, Ellie Taliaferro, Benjamin Bevill, John Arrowsmith, Carey Nease
17 -- Emily Chalverus, Louisa Bohner, Andrew Horne
15 -- Carley Braman, Erika Lopez-Durel, Pierce Arthur Yates, Leland Holsonback
14 -- Richard Holsonback, John Braman, Matthew Nease, Brown Hayes
12 -- Natalie Lopez-Durel, Madeline Frierson, David Horne, Ryan Chalverus
10 -- Simon Parker, Edward Arrowsmith, Gabriel McBryar.
RED BANK HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
18 -- Dallas Woods
17 -- Luke Massey
14 -- Amelia Harris
12 -- Megan Bernard
11 -- Shannon Wells, Conagher Smith
10 -- Chase Garner, Macie Meyners, Madison Kosky.
WATERDOGS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Juliet Bryant
17 -- Davina Sharma, Tanya Sharma, Eligio Urani, Martin Shapoval, John Bryant
12 -- Christian Fetzner, Mark Moshenskiy
10 -- Maya Sharma, Kyra Nipper, Jesus Lopez, Daniel Gill.
COUNTRY CLUB HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- McCay Mathis, Cecelia Turner, William Turner, Robert Buntin
17 -- Danyal Gork
15 -- Jane Becksvoort, Emelia Richey, Charles Crump
14 -- Margaret Crump, Margaret Anne Hudson, Zane Smith
13 -- Laura Brakebill, Erik Buntin, Maxwell Smith
12 -- John Starnes
11 -- Benjamin Workinger, Cooper Bell, Edwin Richey
10 -- Caroline Schemel, Sarah Large, William Gratias.
CLEVELAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Jacob McDaniel, Anna Thompson, Grayson Payne, Trey Parris
17 -- Alexia Jackson, Grayson Officer
15 -- Luke Bixler
14 -- Lauren Thompson, Kylee Weir,
13 -- Breanna Belcher
11 -- Logan Stutzman
10 -- Ian Frakes, Benjamin Cooper.
STUART HEIGHTS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- April Forsthoffer, Dennis Sohn
17 -- Emmaline Goldberg, Cooper Lehman, Gwennie Davis, Max Ransom, Sumner Smith
15 -- Scout Chapin, Miles Dzik, Jon Pat Ransom
14 -- Audrey Barkeloo
13 -- Mary Katherine Shumaker, Cayce Grall
12 -- Luke Cockerham, Bella Lehman, Brayden Walker
11 -- Amelia Bustamante, Josie White
10 -- Sam Rutledge, Harrison Howell.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)