Still time to sign up for swim team

The Columbia Falls summer swim team is working out and getting ready for the upcoming season. The team has been having “dry land” practices at Glacier Gateway School twice a week, and so far 92 swimmers have signed up for the program, which is about 25 percent more than last year, coach Deirdre Loyda said.

Swimmers range in age from 5 to 18, and this fall the high school aged swimmers will compete on a joint swim team with Whitefish. Loyda is assisted by her husband Pete and Tony Friar.

This year, the summer swim team will have a new concessions stand serving food at the pool during its home meet. The stand will also be open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons if visitors using the Pinewood Park pool simply want to grab a snack. Proceeds will help the swim team.

The team will hold a mock meet on Sunday, June 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Summit athletic club in Kalispell. There will also be a clinic for parents who want to train as a stroke-and-turn judge.

The first day of practice at the Pinewood Park pool will be on June 10, but the first meet will be on June 8-9 in Shelby. The team will practice indoors prior to the Shelby meet. The home meet will be on June 22-23, and the state meet will be on Aug. 3-4.

Late registrations are still being taken until the end of the month. For more information, call Jenni Cheff at 261-9363.