Malta Hosts Swim Meet

The Malta Swim Team hosted their first Montana Federation of Swimmers swim meet since the 2018 season.

One year, the teams didn't have enough swimmers and parents to set up a meet, one year was canceled due to COVID, and another was lost due to pool conditions

"It's great to have kids back and parents to help us set up and make this happen," Malta Head Coach Darrow Messerly told the PCN.

Malta had a total of 20 swimmers;15 girls and 5 boys. The event had around 100 swimmers.

The event went from Saturday, July 9, to Sunday, July 10.

"Both days were pretty hot, but (Sunday) was a lot nicer than Saturday because we actually had a breeze and it cooled down," Coach Messerly said. "Saturday was hot and miserable because there was no wind."

"They all swam really well but Kael Young got around second in every event that he swam in," Coach Messerly said. "His younger brother Silas did well too, about the same. They were second and third in about every event they swam in."

Coach Messerly said that it was the first meet for a lot of the team's swimmers.

"They did super well," Coach Messerly said. "I'm just extremely proud of them."

Coach Messerly was an athlete as well as a coach last season, and this was the first year that he led the team at a home meet.

"It's not as stressful as doing both last year, but it's kind of nice to be able to focus on them and worry about getting them better," Coach Messerly said.

Though Malta's numbers were up this weekend, Coach Messerly knows that a few won't likely be at the Glasgow Meet this upcoming weekend because of vacation and other competitions around the state.

"I know that a lot of them will try to go to Glasgow but it will be hard because Big Sky State Games are happening that weekend," Messerly said.

With the Eastern Divisional meet coming on the last weekend of July, Coach Messerly was asked how well he thought the swimmers were developing.

"They have all been doing well," Coach Messerly said. "They come to practice every day, they work hard, and they listen to everything that I am saying and they want to get better at it."

Malta's team results from their home meet on page 10.