Special to The Beacon

Success and support were in no short supply at the Southeastern New England Cluster of YMCA’s (S.E.N.E.C.Y) Championships held at Boston University and McDermott Pool over the March 3-5 weekend. The Kent County YMCA splashed a field of nearly 100 boy and girl swimmers with ages ranging from 6 to 18.

 The competition consisted of 15 YMCA’s from Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Following the three days of intense competition, the KCY Sea Otters took home second place. Jason Buchanan, the beloved head coach of the Sea Otters for the past 23 years, noted that 15 of the KCY swimmers placed in the top-3 of at least one individual event.

The future of KCY swimming shines bright. The 12 and under swimmers had their team poised for success going into Day 3 with both boys and girls in second place after the first two days of competition. 

On the final day, the 13 and over age group swam well enough to capture second place for the final result.  Every age group for the KCY Sea Otters finished in third place or better in their events and 27 swimmers finished in the top 10 in their individual events.  Nearly 70 percent of the Sea Otters scored points for their team – a real team effort.

Every year to psych the team up, Coach Jason comes up with a theme for the team. This year, superheroes were in full force and numerous colorful and creative posters crafted by the swimmers festooned the pool decks providing encouragement and support to all the swimmers. As Coach Jason always reminds his KCY swim family, building a sense of community is just as important as the competition, and both were certainly on display. 

Their teammates’ encouragement paid off as evidenced by the following individual scorers:

For the boys: Declan Kelly (45 points), individual first in the 25 fly (boys 8 and under); Sebastian Lewis (44 points), including first in the 25 breast (boys 8 and under). For the girls:  Em Asencio (41 points); Odette Levin (41 points), including first in the 50 fly (girls 9-10).

This season, culminating with second place at the S.E.N.E.C.Y. Championships, bodes very well for Coach Jason and the future of the KCY swim team. Anyone interested in joining the Sea Otters for long course or short course should call the KCY at (401) 828-0130.