Swimmers just finding their stroke and preps looking to improve met Friday, July 7 at Joseph W. Arbisi Memorial Swimming Pool for a meet hosted by the Sedalia Bandits.
Bandits head coach Jerry Tankersley, also head swim and dive coach at Smith-Cotton, leads what some S-C athletic programs lack and yearn for: a feeder program.
Yet stacks of ribbons, post-race fist bumps and cheers for personal bests awaited swimmers as young as 5 years old in a particularly recreational meet.
“I think with this league, everybody is trying to get better, but it is a little more laid-back,” Tankersley said. “We have swimmers from Green Ridge, a girl that comes up every year from Texas, Windsor, Sacred Heart … It’s fun to see. We have a really nice mix of individuals that come and swim, and a lot of them they don’t have the opportunity to over the school year.”
Hill, 14, competed in the 100-yard individual medley, 5-yard butterfly, 50-yard breaststroke and helped Allie Ferguson, Valerie Breshears and Hunter Sparks to a 2:32.13 finish in the 200-yard medley relay.
Despite summers off as a science teacher at Smith-Cotton, Tankersley helps head more than 20 meets from May 26 to July 15. The Bandits compete 9 a.m. Saturday in Boonville.
Tankersley said passion for swimming, and fatherhood — Clayton and Peyton swam in 10 combined events Friday — has motivated his longtime role with the Bandits.
“I love swimming, that’s one thing I really enjoy,” Tankersley said. “But, now, the past three years I’ve had my own kids in there. It’s been kind of a different thing being a parent and coach at the same time. Really, it’s to get swimming in the community, get kids swimming. I love to see kids being successful no matter what level they’re at.”
