A winning season for the Kaiserslautern Kingfish

Story and photo by Penney Hokaj

Contributing writer


Many people view swimming as a leisurely pastime or a great way to cool down on a hot summer day.

 But this is not so for the 118 members of the Kaiserslautern Kingfish. Swimmers began training in August for the 2009-2010 season under the guidance of coaches Bob Clinton, Matt Sievers, Rick Peters, Chip Bassett, Jim Sheridan, Charlie Tujo, Debi Gage, Jane Zembraski, Alyssa Mallette, Brett Bishop and Len Tarnowski for 20 swim meets throughout Europe.

The Kingfish are part of the 20 team European Forces Swim League. The EFSL provides youth swimmers stationed in Europe with the opportunity to learn and swim competitively during their parent’s assignment. Families have the opportunity of “touring Europe pool by pool.” This year, the Kingfish participated in meets throughout Germany including Ramstein, Baumholder, Berlin, Hohenfels, Geilenkirchen and Heidelberg, as well as Aviano, Italy; Rota, Spain; Lakenheath, United Kingdom; Shape, Belgium; and Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The Kingfish placed first as a team in the Rhineland Division handily topping the competition – Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Berlin – with a total of 1,095 team points. They also out swam the other 19 teams earning more than twice as many team points as the closest competitors. The Kingfish finished the season with 20 wins and many records being broken.

Mr. Clinton, the head coach, said, “This has been the most prolific year for record breakers. Some have been broken multiple times in the year and some have been around for some time.”

New Kingfish team records were set this season by Tiana Brocious, Sophia Bishop, Danielle Davis, Isabelle Bishop, Sara Gorske, Katie Money, Amy Roth, Molly Delahoyde, Elizabeth Doe, Penelope Washington, Sarah Doe, Jordan DeGraaf, Isaac Ha, Duncan Seebeck, Riley Delahoyde, Ashton DeGraaf, Peter Cummin, Campbell Delahoyde and Stephen Tarnowski.

Congratulations to all the Kingfish on an excellent year as well as to the coaches and Kingfish parents.

For more information on the Kaiserslautern Kingfish, visit http://kingfishswimteam.com/ or http://swimefsl.org.