Murphy – Despite having just three out of 15 athletes with previous summer swimming experience, the Cherokee County Aquatic Club has had a successful summer.
Of those 15 swimmers, 12 have qualified for Saturday’s Mountain Swim League All-Star Meet. And two also qualified for the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics, which will take place July 28-30 in Greensboro.
“Definitely more team atmosphere,” coach Frank Bachteler said of the team this year. “You’ll see them at the meets, rooting for one another. They were up and cheering, they knew each other’s names, which I don’t know if we had that last year.”
The team has been practicing from 7:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday since May 16 at Murphy Health & Fitness in Konehete Park. The pool looks a little different, as a permanent roof went up over it in April rather than the dome that covered it in years past.
In the summer, there are doors on the side that open to the outside. That means the pool is not fully indoors when the weather cooperates.
“It almost like doubles the deck space,” Bachteler said of the new roof. “Because it’s airier, you don’t have the dome collapsing. Before, you’d have the dome right here, and it would be falling in. So we got a straight wall and a high-pitched ceiling, which really brightens up the whole place.”
Bachteler added that the facility and pool itself is cleaner this year, which is a credit to Murphy Health & Fitness’ management and staff.
“That kind of support … we did not have previously, when it was the pop up and other management,” Bachteler said.
Bachteler has been joined on the staff by Miletzy Rivas, who swam for the club and coached at the same time last year and today is an assistant. She has been primarily helping with younger swimmers on the team.
“(She) has done a great job with the young kids,” Bachteler said. “Getting them from basically never being in water until they can actually compete.”
Seven of the swimmers on the team have won an event at meets this year, with Fern Crayton and Ariana Rivas also qualifying for the Junior Olympics. Crayton competes in the 13-14 age group, while Rivas competes with ages 15-18.
With the new roof in place, Bachteler hopes to keep most of the kids in the water twice a week through the fall and winter just to keep them in touch with the sport. That hasn’t been possible the past two years, as there was no high school swimming in the county during the 2020-21 school year and swimmers practiced last year at the Union General Hospital Wellness Center in Blairsville, Ga.
He hopes to have an even bigger team next year, then see if he and Rivas can help build Cherokee County Aquatic Club back up into a year-round program, which it hasn’t been since 2016. The cost of pool time remains a challenge, but the team has some sponsors and donors that have helped offset the cost of necessary gear, like a swim cap and suits.
“Swimming historically has been not a high-priority sport,” Bachteler said.
“It has gotten reasonable attention, but it’s not a money, revenue-generating program. If we can raise enough money to pay for caps and suits, that’s a big plus.”