Home sweet home for Kingfish

For the first time, the Kaiserslautern Kingfish swim team was able to enjoy competing at a pool in their own backyard.

The Kaiserslautern Kingfish have a new pool to train in and now to compete in.  In the past, the swim team held practices and hosted swim meets at the Baumholder Rolling Hills Athletic Club in Baumholder.

The Ramstein Aquatic Center will allow the swim team to use all eight lanes as compared to the Baumholder pool which had only five. The additional lanes will allow the team to expand its program and the size of its meets. This increases the opportunity for children to swim by almost 40 percent.

This day was one that will not be easily forgotten among the swim team coaching staff.
“It’s great that we were able to compete at the Ramstein Aquatic Center,” said Swim Team Head Coach Robert Clinton.

Gone are the days of traveling almost daily to Baumholder for swim practices and home swim meets. However, swim practices are still being held at the Baumholder Rolling Hills Athletic Club to accommodate those swimmers that live in and around the area and for the entire team on Saturdays. And, on occasions, the swim team will still hold swim meets at Baumholder.

“The Baumholder pool and its staff have always provided outstanding support to the team,” Team President Tom Brown said. “However, the Ramstein Aquatic Center’s additional lanes allows for larger meets and lets more kids participate on the team.”

This is a welcome addition as the Kingfish swim team prepares for the European Forces League Championships in February full of expectation after a first place individual medal finish in the European Forces League Championships last season.
Coach Clinton is excited about the prospects of this season, saying that this year’s team is ready, able and never backs away from a good competition.

Hohenfels Hurricanes, Bamburg Aqua Barons and Wiesbaden Wahoos were the other teams hosted by Kaiserslautern Kingfish swim team Oct. 18 at the
Ramstein Aquatic Center. 

For more information about the team, visit www.kingfishswimteam.com or
e-mail president@kingfishswimteam.com.
(Courtesy of Kaiserslautern Kingfish Swim Team)