Palm Coast, FL – As the swimmers took their marks and the whistle blew, swim coach Tom Gillin watched proudly as a longtime dream of his came to fruition.
Hosting the inaugural “Duel in the Pool” event on Saturday evening, the friendly competition pitted the Flagler Sheriff’s Police Athletic League swimmers against the Palm Coast Parks and Recreation summer swim team for 10 different competitions over the two hours, at the Belle Terre Swim & Racquet Club.
Providing in-depth commentary for parents and grandparents on the sidelines and tips on technique for the youth swimmers, 2004 Olympic trials qualifier Daniel Cruz shared his swimming secrets with the kids.
Starting his own aquatic journey under the direction of Coach Gillin, the 2001 Flagler Palm Coast High School graduate and star swimmer, now teaching in Dubai, sees the opportunity for success among some of the young athletes in Flagler County today.
“I started swimming at an early age in programs like this, so I think that’s where it comes from, to get people involved at a young age, as early as possible,” he said, sharing his impressive background.
“I grew up in Flagler, and I’ve known Tom since I was 7-years old. I won two high school state titles for FPC in the 100 meter butterfly in my junior and senior year. Then I went on to swim at the University of Kentucky and I was ranked 12th in the world in the 200 meter butterfly. I won a southeastern conference title for the same event, the 200 meter butterfly. I missed the Olympic team in 2004. I was in the final heat and missed it by 1 second and one-tenth, so I was in the race, third going into the last turn, and you have to get first or second, so a couple guys pulled ahead right at the very end and I was sixth place overall. But still, all my accomplishments I credit to starting here actually, at this pool and Frieda Zamba. This is where I got started swimming. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Tom.”
“One of the things I really liked coming out today was the enthusiasm. When you get to watch kids race and put a lot of effort into it, they’re passionate about it, I think it makes a world of difference. There’s a lot of swimmers here, talent in the water that I saw that could go on and swim definitely high school and beyond.”
Gillin was thrilled to have Cruz on deck to talk with the kids.
“By chance he happened to be in the country and I asked him if he could come over and be our color commentator, be our Rowdy Gaines and tell everybody what’s happening,” said Gillin. “A lot of times parents don’t know what’s going on when they watch everything so it’s good to have somebody explain. It was kind of neat to see the look in the kids’ eyes when he’s explaining something and they’re looking and absorbing everything. They want to know how to swim faster.”
Coaching the Palm Coast parks and recreation team, outdoor recreation manager James Hirst was there to greet each swimmer upon their return to the deck. For their first meet he helped bolster their confidence by offering up high fives and encouragement throughout the event.
“We have around 12 and usually have a team of about 25 we have practice every Monday, Wednesday, Friday,” explained Hirst.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done something like this. A lot of it’s just practice. We just try and teach technique but this is the first time these guys have been in a meet so they’re all excited. It’s their first ever relay.”
Team Palm Coast members Ava (butterfly) and Faith (backstroke) hovered near the water in anticipation of the first relay.
“I thought it sounded like fun,” said Ava, when asked why she wanted to compete.
From the sidelines Michael Payne and his wife watched their two children, glad to have a hometown event for the kids.
“They’ve been practicing for the past month, every day,” he said. “I was kind of excited because the last time PAL did an event it was many different groups and organizations down in Ormond, so it’s kind of nice to see a little Flagler County rivalry.”
Declaring everyone a winner as the swimmers happily refueled with Five Star Pizza after the vigorous workout, Gillin reflected on the sportsmanship of the participants, who cheered until the very last swimmer returned, and the quality of the summer league athletes for possible future recruitment.
“I don’t know what it is, but I notice our swim teams are more like swim families. With the community teams and high school teams, you just get that kind of camaraderie,” shared Gillin.
“The selfish reason is we’re trying to get people involved in high school swimming and hopefully we plant the seeds now, get them excited about swimming and they’ll be our future swimmers and lifeguards and doing things like that,” said Gillin, who also heads up the Flagler Beach Junior Lifeguard program.
“It was great to see it happen and great to see the kids having a good time and the parents getting into it.”
