Penguin Swimming earns national honor

July 15, 2010 at 12:10a.m.

By JOE SCALZO

YOUNGSTOWN

It’s been a banner year for Penguin Swimming.

Literally.

The USA Swimming affiliate, which trains at YSU’s Beeghly Center, earned a bronze medal for being ranked in the top 200 among USA Swimming clubs nationwide in athletic performance.

“For a small team like us to achieve this, it says a lot,” said Penguin Swimming coach Greg McAtee. “We’re very proud.”

The team was ranked No. 143 among more than 2,800 teams in the country. Penguin Swimming was one of two ranked teams out of the Lake Erie region. The other, the Solon Stars, ranked No. 152. Solon has more than 250 swimmers.

Penguin Swimming earned the ranking due to the performances of Garrett and Gavin Trebilcock of Canfield, who competed at the Central Zone and U.S. Junior National Championships last summer.

The team earned 4,146 points from five of Garrett’s times and one of Gavin’s from the 18-and-under meets. The Trebilcock brothers will compete at those meets again this summer and McAtee is hoping to earn either a bronze or a silver based on the 2010 performances. Garrett will then move on to Ohio State, while Gavin will be a senior at Canfield this fall.

Teams ranked between 101-200 in the country earn bronze medals, while clubs in the top 16 earn gold medals and clubs ranked between 17 and 100 earn silver medals. McAtee’s team received a banner with the bronze medal logo, which they display at events.

“This past year, we had quite a few swimmers who decided to train with us after we got that recognition,” said McAtee, who credits the facility, his coaches, the swimmers and his parents for helping them achieve the honor. “I think we’re heading in a really positive direction.

“We worked really hard to get this recognition. We’re working toward it again this year.”

McAtee is also working to expand the program, offering a promotion for new swimmers this fall that allows them to try the program for one month for just $25. It runs from Sept. 13 to Oct. 8. The program is open to swimmers from 5 to 18 years old. The swim season consists of a short course program that runs from September through March and a long course season that runs from April through August.

“We’ve been averaging about 100 kids but we’d like to see the numbers increase,” he said. “Once we get kids through the door, we keep them. But a lot of people, when they think of swimming, they automatically think of the YMCA.

“We’re really trying to get our name out there. We have kids from all ability levels, from kids whose big goal is just to the league meet to ones who want to go to national-level meets.”

For more details, visit the team’s website at penguinswim.com.