Saturday morning swim meets are synonymous with Sunday morning throat lozenges.
"Sometimes, the next day my throat is all sore because I cheered so loud. You feel good that you supported your friends," said Kate Standish, 9, of Potomac Swim Club.
For many, cheers and feeling good are what the summer season is all about.
"I like cheering and I also like trying to beat my own times," said Tara Braun, 12, of Potomac Swim Club. "I don't really care if I win or not. It makes you feel good when people cheer. If you're really tired, it helps you want to try even harder."
"Even if you're going slow, they don't care," said Molly Crenshaw, 12, of parent, friends and parent supporters at Potomac Swim Club.
"When they're all cheering, it's the best feeling," said Lucy Goldberg, 8. "Just being in the pool with everyone cheering is my favorite thing," said Maria Schouch, 9, both of the Potomac Swim Club.
ON THE SECOND day of summer last Saturday, June 22, 75 teams across Montgomery County enjoyed the first day of the 2002 Montgomery County Swim League season.
"It's so much different from winter [swimming]," said Theresa Vaghi, 18, a graduate from Stone Ridge who will attend Xavier University this coming fall. "It's fun to come out and have a good time."
"I've been doing this for 15 years. There's nothing I'd rather be doing on a Saturday morning," said her father, Vince Vaghi, a head timer at River Falls meets.
Vince and Theresa Vaghi are just one example of the many families involved together.
Mark Plevin has announced River Falls swim meets for 10 years. "I used to do P.A. for football and basketball. It seemed like the right transition," said Plevin, who moved to Potomac 10 years ago. His daughter Julie Plevin, 14, a runner at Walt Whitman High School, has been swimming all 10 years. "I like the spirit and all the camaraderie," said Julie.
Torre Bassett, a 10th grade student at Churchill High School and a member of Potomac's swim team, is coached be her sister Nicole Bassett, an assistant coach of Potomac Swim Club team.
"All my brothers and sisters swam. It's fun to talk about swimming and cheer with everyone," said Torre.
NICOLE BASSETT, Torre's sister, like many other swimmers, benefited from swim coaches and teams, and now is giving back to her pool as a coach.
Annie Harkins, 19, who graduated from the River Falls swim team last year is a coach with the team.
"I've been swimming since I was four," said Harkins. "The meets and the cheering — that's always my favorite. I'm probably the loudest person on the team."
"The coaches teach me a lot of stuff. They tell me what I am doing wrong and tell me how to do it right. Then I do it better," said Ariana Nasseri, 8, a student at National Cathedral School.
Her mother Sem Nasseri said she values the swim season at Potomac Swim Club for the community.
"It's nice for us because all my children are in private schools. … We wouldn't know as many people in our community if it weren't for the summer swim season. My children have been coming here since they were born," said Nasseri, whose parents were members at the same pool.
Jeff Cramp, who will attend Villanova University next fall, said older members of the team feel responsible for continuing traditions set for them in the years past.
"When you're an older member on the team you have to show leadership for the younger ones. You have to make it fun for them," said Cramp, of his last summer with the Potomac Swim Club. "When I was young, I swam for River Falls. There was so much energy. I thought it was so cool to have big people around and looked up to them. It got me into swimming."