A major goal for this season was to get more middle school boys to join the Howitt swim team. According to Coach Coleman, "Swimming is a fantastic sport and we needed to get that message to the seventh and eighth grade boys. We knew there were plenty of potential swimmers just sitting around waiting for wrestling, lacrosse, or baseball season to begin in the spring. What we said to them was, 'why not join the swim team, get a head start on physical conditioning, become a better swimmer, and have some fun too?'"

With some help from last year's team members and some pre-season advertising, the team gained 18 new swimmers.

"This is really great, not only for the seventh and eighth team, but also for the future prospects of the varsity program," Coach Coleman said.

The team finished the season with a 4-5-1 record with three very close contests that came down to the last race.

"I hope that the mold has begun to set for the Howitt boys and that we will see similar numbers come out for the team next year," said Coach Coleman.

Swimming is a terrific life-long sport that provides wonderful health benefits, exciting challenges, and team participation. Residents who have a son or daughter that would like to participate on one of the Howitt swim teams, please ask them to speak to their physical education teacher for more information.