Watertown Blue Sharks host swimming championship at brand new YMCA aquatic center
Feb. 4—WATERTOWN — Watertown brought home numerous first place finishes as hundreds of people walked through the doors of the new downtown YMCA this weekend for the CNY YMCA District Swimming Championship.
The Watertown YMCA Blue Sharks finished first overall in 8 and under girls, 8 and under boys, ages 9 to 10 boys, and ages 15 to 19 girls. The only team with more first place finishes was Auburn with five.
Seven YMCAs took part in the event with the Norwich, Fulton, Corland, Oneida, and Oneonta YMCAs joining Watertown and Auburn.
The event drew in so many people that tickets were given out to control the number of people by the pool. Once a spectator's swimmer was done, they were to return to the pickleball court, where the swimmers were staged so another family could watch their swimmer.
Even though they weren't poolside, spectators could still watch what was going on in the pool because of a flat screen television livestreaming the meet. Another television was on near the pool's glass window viewing area and the event was also livestreamed on YouTube.
Seven YMCAs took part in the event.
Watertown Blue Sharks Coach Lori Peters said the setup for the meet was "perfect."
She said it was also nice because the meet could be "contained" to the pool half of the YMCA.
"The members can still go into the other half and not feel like they're interrupting us or we're interrupting them," she said. "It's absolutely beautiful."
She said swimmers and coaches have been amazed.
"Everybody seems to be extremely happy," she said.
There were 10 age groups competing, five each for males and females. The top three teams earn medals, and four through 12 get ribbons.
Shawna Cutuli, the YMCA's Chief Executive Officer said they were "excited" to host the meet just 55 days into the opening of the new YMCA.
"The meet has been running seamlessly, thanks to the volunteers, staff and the coaches," she said.
More than 400 swimmers took part in the meet, and Cutuli said they estimated about 1,200 people walked through the doors of the new Y over the weekend.
People were raving about the new YMCA, something Cutuli said they are "grateful" for.
"We're so grateful for the positive and kind comments people have been making about our Y," she said. "We're just so excited to be a part of the swimming community."
Eric Shay drove in from Auburn to watch his three swimmers. He said the new Y is "very nice" and specifically stated how convenient the parking and the process was once you walk through the doors.
"It's really streamlined right when you walk in. You know exactly where you need to go," he said. "I actually walked around in the weight room and the facility here. It looks really nice and streamlined."
The YMCA back in Auburn is older, he said.
Shay was at the meet for both days because his children were involved all weekend. He said he drove the hour and 45 minutes both days.
Sandra Bowen, of Oneonta, said the facility is "beautiful."
"We wish we had this in Oneonta," she said, adding that her hometown YMCA is much smaller.
Since the drive to Oneonta is three hours, Bowen said they decided to stay overnight at a hotel as swimmers had to be at the YMCA at 9 a.m.
Cutuli also thanked Peters as she has been the coach for years.
"Her and her team are just really dedicated," she said. "We're just really excited for all of the swimmers."
