At the end of the Gwinnett County Swim League season there was a county championship meet. The top 50 times in each age group and gender from the 6-meet regular season were invited to go to the county championship meet.
The county swim meet was held at a small pool in Briscoe Park. It was like any typical neighborhood pool. It had 25 yards of water with 6 lanes. There was a small amount of deck space where they had a couple sets of portable metal bleachers for spectators. Lawn chairs occupied every remaining piece of concrete. It certainly did not accommodate 46 teams of swimmers plus their grandparents, parents, and siblings. It was so crowded that they asked parents to enter the pool area only for their child’s swim, and then to please exit the area.
The munchkin age groups competed on one day and the older kids on the next. Each was an all-day event in the hottest part of the Georgia summer. It was a hellish experience when John was competing on one day and Ann on the next, necessitating two full days of attendance, morning till night.
The county meet had all of the same issues that a dual meet had, except 46 teams were involved instead of two, and thousands of swimmers rather than mere hundreds. Cars were parked door to door for hundreds of yards in the surrounding fields. Areas were roped off for each of the 46 teams to inhabit outside the pool. Little kids, and big kids, ran noisily everywhere throughout the day, and the garbage crews were constantly emptying the fifty gallon drums.
In spite of it all, or because of it all, it really was a fun swim meet. The atmosphere of excitement was contagious. We waited all day long to watch Ann and John swim a couple of times for a minute each. To a parent it was well worthwhile. I loved watching the kids swim and compete.
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