Malta hosts swim meet at City Pool

The Malta Swim Team held it's home meet in which temperatures surpassed 90 degrees in day one of the two-day event this past weekend at the City Pool.

The City Pool hosted close to 225 swimmers from the East Montana Federation of Swimmers on Saturday, June 9 through Sunday, June 10. Twenty-three of those swimmers were Malta Swim Team members.

Though the meet was relatively cool during the first few hours, a stale heat reaching 93 degrees, slowed things down in an otherwise quick meet.

"Heat is very hard at swim meets because a lot of kids don't drink enough water, they don't eat food, and then they get tired," Malta Swim Team Coach Shay Garfield told the PCN.

Despite the hot temperatures last Saturday, Coach Shay Garfield is beaming with how her team did in her first home meet as a coach.

"It's exciting and I am really proud of how everyone has been doing," Coach Garfield said. "Everyone has been swimming very well."

Coach Garfield was pleased with the overall vibe of the home meet, a meet that served as the first meet in 2018 for many.

"Everyone is pretty excited to get into the water," Coach Garfield said. "Some of these guys, it's their first swim meet, so they are really excited. Everyone is having a good time and are happy with how their events have been going."

It was the first meet for senior swimmer Erika Nagy, who had an impressive meet, racking up 28 points. She felt that the heat was indeed affecting the tempo of the meet.

"The meet is going slow, really slow," Nagy said. "I don't think I am doing very good because of the heat."

Eleven-year-old Lena Tremblay, a junior swimmer, shared her favorite thing about being on the Malta Swim Team.

"I get to practice with my friends," Tremblay said.

Despite the heat, Tremblay was extremely positive about how the meet was going and the crowd that was present.

"It's going good," Tremblay said. "It's cool having a lot of supporters."

Having been a swimmer on the team for a few years, Tremblay shared her best advice to younger or newer swimmers.

"Keep your mind focused and just keep swimming," Tremblay said.

The Malta Swim Team's full individual results and relay results are listed on page 4B.