YMCA Swimmers Place 3rd at Harvard

Bartlett Selected Coach of the Year

 By Peter Pan

  The Harvard Masters Championships is one of the biggest and most competitive swim meets in the country, with hundreds of participants racing over three consecutive days and a distance day held the previous week. The South County YMCA Masters Swim Team spends the entire year preparing for this contest, and always puts on a great performance. This year was no different.

Teams are awarded points based on placing in the individual events of the meet, placing 1st through 16th, and in relays of 4 swimmers each. Cumulative points are added to each team totals, based on 5-year age groups for individuals, and 10-year age groups for relay teams. The YMCA team placed 3rd overall, led by the women’s squad, which scored 2,315 points during the contest. 

The local team consisted of 37 swimmers of ages 24 through 73 years of age, and were competing against much larger teams of between 50 and 70 swimmers. Some of the YMCA members swam in up to four events each day, as well as additional relays, which propelled them into the 3rd place finish.

Outstanding performances from Callie Carchedi of Charlestown, Kristin Wilkes White of South Kingstown, and Carolyn Kiely Kilpatrick of Providence led the way for the YMCA team.

A big surprise came for Narragansett’s Fred Bartlett, who has coached the South County team for 23 years, when he was awarded the “Coach of the Year” by his peers, at the final trophy ceremony. No one is more deserving of the prize, having spent thousands of hours in the YMCA pool, coaching the local swimmers to great wins over the years.

This year’s team consisted of the following athletes: From South Kingstown-Tim Coffey, Jamie Dwyer, Mary Kutcher, Andreas Ladas, Kathleen Gorman, Cheryl McElroy, Christine Mellen, Kristin Wilkes White, and David Winkler. From Wakefield-Lliyanna Borisova, Sarah Cappelli, Meredith Haas, Lee Lovitz, Aileen Palm, Martha Piemonte, Brian Sweenor, and Kim Raymond Angell. From Saunderstown-Bob Ballou. From Narragansett-Fred Bartlett, Lesley Engleson, Beth Fehr, Mary Phelan, Beth Rodewig, and Rich Sweetman. From Charlestown-Callie and David Carchedi. From North Kingstown-Julie DiSilvestro, Susan Hannel, Stephanie Hevenor, and Dennis Pelletier. From Exeter-Julianne Davis. From Kingston-Lorrie Horton and Jeanne Garr. From Saunderstown-Matt McKee. From Jamestown-Dennis Quelch. From East Greenwich-Paul McCaffrey. From Providence-Carolyn Kiely Kilpatrick.