The Ooltewah Tidal Waves have been on quite a roll in recent seasons and it appears that trend may continue for the rest of the summer in the Chattanooga Area Swim League.
Ooltewah is one of four teams in the CASL’s Blue Division. They’ve been undefeated in dual meets for the past two summers and they are the two-time defending City Meet champions.
The summer league is just now entering its second week, but the Tidal Waves show no sign of letting up as they’ve won their first three meets.
Monday was the latest as they posted a convincing 470-297 victory over the Signal Mountain Green Giants.
Ooltewah is the only Blue division team that has a year-round program. Coach Todd Jones has done an outstanding job of attracting and developing really good talent and as a result, he has extensive depth in every event and every age group.
“We have a bunch of little ones who showed up and did what they were supposed to do, but we also had some of our older kids who stepped up and had some of their best swims of the season,” said Jones while the Freestyle relay races were being contested.
“We have a solid team from top to bottom, but I’ve made a point to develop some really good relationships with these kids and they’re willing to do the work to be successful.
“The basics are starting to come together and our attitude has been great across the board so far. Happy swimmers make for fast swimmers,” he added.
Tracy Daverson is in her first year as the Signal Mountain head coach. The start of their season was delayed as pool repairs took longer than normal and they haven’t been practicing as long as other teams, but Daverson is confident that better days are ahead after her team evened its record at 1-1.
“We’re getting our tails kicked pretty good right now, but I think we’re doing pretty good since we’ve only been practicing for five days,” she began.
“All of them are having fun and that’s the main goal. We’ve had several kids who improved quite a lot since our last meet, but we’ll continue to get better with every day in the water.
“We just have to keep working hard, but summer swimming is what it is. We need to keep working harder if we expect to win,” she said matter of factly.
Ooltewah’s depth was evident from the opening race and the difference on got bigger.
The Tidal Waves had five swimmers score the maximum 19 points, including Noah Holliman, Keilah Holliman, Zack McInnes, Anna Boyd and Makayla McInnes.
Leah Boyd chipped in with 18 points while John Michael Shelton and Bryson Lake followed with 17 apiece.
Hayden Vicknair and Avery May were high-point scorers for the Green Giants with 14 points each.
These same two teams will meet again at Signal on Thursday.
Other meet winners on Monday included Stuart Heights and Country Club.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)