Forest City YMCA youth swimmers compete at state meet

Adah Sharp set personal records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events with times of 33.65 seconds and 1 minute and 17 seconds, respectively. She qualified for the March 17-19 regional meet to be held at Wellmark YMCA in Des Moines in both events plus the 50-yard backstroke.

“I love competing in our swim meets and hanging out with my friends,” said Adah, noting that many of them are also swimmers. “What I’m most looking forward to at regionals is I can improve my times again.”

Mother Stephanie Sharp noted that she and Donovan Sharp’s eight children are all smaller and shorter than many kids, which is not an advantage for swimming. However, almost all of them competed from age six in both the Forest City Parks and Recreation Department summer season as well as the longer YMCA winter season. Both 11-year-old Adah and her twin sister, Eva, qualified for state in 2021.

“It has been fun, especially this year,” Stephanie said. “Because all my kids are really small, it was always in the back of my mind that we didn’t know how far the kids would go. Then in 2021, the twins went to state. We’re proud of them because they work really hard and kind of have to work extra to keep up. They just keep giving it their all.”

She credited their success to coaches and their participation in both summer and winter swim seasons every year, saying “their skills and strokes, everything they do is so much more well-defined.”

“I was in swim lessons and then I went into swim team,” Adah said. “In the winter, it’s usually really cold and the towels are really wet and hard to dry.”

Stephanie said warmer water can make them more sluggish, but Adah insisted she gets the most fatigued in winter, attributing it to a longer season and cold weather.

“The summer swim team and winter swim team are both fun,” said Eva, who competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay at state.

The twins are also runners and say that swimming helps keep get them ready for running track in the spring. They hope to run both track and cross country in the future.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Stephanie of Adah’s record-setting state meet. “Over two seconds faster than a personal best, that was awesome. She’s been practicing a lot these last two weeks, gliding through the water because working extra hard helps a lot.”

Forest City YMCA Director of Youth Development Chris Parcher said more than 30 kids participated on the swim team this year. He noted that it ranged from a couple of 6-year-olds up to several high school students.

“It’s one of our tent-pole programs,” Parcher said. “It’s been going on for a long time.”

He noted competition is entirely against other YMCA swim teams throughout the winter season.

“It’s a pretty long program,” Parcher said. “There is a national competition beyond regionals in Atlanta. I don’t know that we’ve had anyone go there. Having an indoor pool, we have swim lessons here. Because of the indoor water, we draw kids from other communities. Charles City and Algona have the other closest YMCAs. It does create a very unique dynamic having this program in our area. The YMCA is non-profit, not a money-maker, and we want to be able to provide for these kids. Many of them are very thankful to find the swim program and their niche.”

Some kids might not stick with it if it was not so much fun. The competitive sport can create circumstances that enhance performance and self-confidence.

“We have a camp where all the kids sort of hang out and get to know each other, have fun, and play games,” Parcher said. “It also promotes water safety and we’re hopefully building a lifelong healthy habit of swimming. We’ve got a good group and they really enjoy it.”

Coaching change required

Now certified Coach Paula Wilson filled in for Forest City’s regular YMCA Swim Team Coaches Amanda and Elijah Ungs at the sectional state meets.

“At the start of the swim season we knew our coaches would be gone for maternity leave,” Paula said. “They would need to miss the sectional and state meets. I volunteered to get certified as a swim coach to ensure our team would be able to compete in these events. This was my first time working as a swim coach and I was excited to get to work with the kids and help them prepare for these big meets.”

It included coaching her son, Isaac Wilson, who was competing in the 50-yard butterfly. He has participated in the state swim meet for five consecutive years.

“Coaching Isaac has been a joy,” said the proud mom. “We got to spend quality time together at practices and driving to the meets. Isaac is the youngest of five kids and he has always tried to do whatever his older siblings have done. He started swimming early because they were swimming. Isaac set a goal to place higher at state than his siblings. His competitiveness and hard work has helped him reach this goal.”

Paula, who has taught adult and youth classes at the Forest City YMCA for more than a quarter century, also noted how much Adah Sharp’s swimming has developed in five years on the team.

“Adah Sharp is hard-working, energetic, and positive young lady” Paula said. “She comes to practice ready work and always has a smile on her face. Adah gets her workout in, but also manages to encourage others to do their best as well. I can remember watching Adah when she first started swimming and she could barely make it across the pool. Her dedication and hard work has paid off as she continues to improve every year.”

Coach Paula also noted that each team recognizes two team all-stars at the state meet. Forest City recognized Adah and Isaac, who has been swimming for seven of his 12 years. Isaac also plays basketball, football, and baseball. In addition to the events in which she advanced to regionals, Adah anchored the 200-yard freestyle relay at the state meet. Forest City’s other state meet qualifiers, Brinlynn Zrostlik and Brooklyn Sorenson, also competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay at state.

The regular swim team coaches were just as excited about their swimmers even though they couldn’t be there as they welcomed a new baby girl into the Ungs family. Amanda Ungs confirmed that Elijah will be coaching Adah Sharp at regionals.

“Adah improved greatly this season,” Amanda said. “She moved up a tougher practice group this year and frequently crushed her workouts, even when they were incredibly difficult. Adah is incredibly hard working, always gives her best, and pushes herself during practice and at meets. She sets a good example for her teammates and can always be seen cheering them on at meets and in practice. We are excited to see what she will accomplish at regionals.”

Amanda said it was so difficult to not be able to coach the kids all the way through the season after investing so much time together. She stressed that they work hard all year with the end-of-season meets being the culmination.

“The sectional and state meets are highlights of the season, and not being able to be there to coach them proved more difficult than we had originally anticipated,” Amanda said. “Even though we knew it would happen, we were sad and it was challenging to not be there to see the time drops, personal records, state qualifying races, and end-of-season excitement.”

Amanda has coached the team since 2015 and Elijah joined her as co-coach in 2021, although he had previously volunteered as an official and helped with some practices. They said swim team also teaches kids good sportsmanship, perseverance, and goal setting. They often introduce fun to practices by incorporating games, theme practices, and some dry land and wetland work. They noted being proud of the culture of their swimmers, who consistently display “positivity and character.”