YMCA Swimmers Win Gold

Four young Marco YMCA swimmers, Finn Peters, Ryan Nesmith, Finn McGuire, and Niko Van Halen, won the 10 & Under 200-meter free relay, and McGuire brought home five total medals. The swimmers were competing in the Flag Age Group Championships, held March 5-8 at the Rosen Aquatic and Fitness Center in Orlando.

“The kids did very well,” said Kamal Farhat, longtime Y swim coach, “as you can see by what they have around their necks.”

McGuire's neck was full of medals.

"I won one gold, three silver, and one bronze,” McGuire said proudly. "It was definitely challenging, but it definitely felt good to win gold in the relay with all my friends. It was like one of the best feelings.”

All of the boys are proud of their gold medal performance in the 200 free relay.

‘The relay was really fun,” Peters said. “I liked it because we got first and because we won as a team."

Farhat is proud of the progress his young swimmers are making.

“They're growing up in the program,” Farhat said. “They're progressing very well. They're always here for practice. They work hard every day. So it pays off."

Farhat, who has coached a number of scholarship-winning swimmers over the years, sees a bright future for this group of swimmers.

“These kids have that kind of potential,” he said. “A few of them will have the potential and as they get bigger and continue growing, they will have even better potential."