Best In The State
Chatham County Aquatics Center dives in to help host
2025 State Age Group Championship Meet
“It takes a lot of dedication and a lot of time.” Chatham County Aquatics Center Manager Mary Ryan Aimar has an up-close and personal view of what it takes to be a competitive swimmer. This past weekend that view included some of the best swimmers in the state, as Georgia Swimming (the state division of USA Swimming) brought its 2025 Age Group Championship Meet to Savannah.
One of Chatham County Parks & Recreation’s most-loved facilities, the Aquatic Center has its own robust programming, but it also serves as the host training facility for several local competitive swim teams. Georgia Coastal Aquatic Team (GCAT), Low County Aquatic Club (LCAC), and Savannah Swim Team (SST) all call the Aquatic Center home. When GCAT was selected to be the Host Team for this year’s State Meet for 11–14-year-olds, the excellent facilities available at the Aquatic Center were a significant part of the equation.
Under the vaulted ceiling spanning the Olympic-sized lap pool and the smaller warm-up pool, the Aquatic Center is set up to accommodate just such high-energy events. High-tech digital scoreboards displayed up-to-the-minute details about swimmers and winners. Sound systems played walk-on music for finalists, and laser light shows charged up the crowds of friends and family cheering from poolside stadium seating. On the grounds of the Aquatic Center, all races were live streamed to an enormous tent, where food trucks and vendors added to the atmosphere for the crowds cheering there.
Teams of helpers from Chatham County Parks & Recreation showed up early and stayed late every day to keep the throngs moving smoothly through multiple parking lots. County Facilities Maintenance & Operations team members also went above and beyond to ensure the Aquatic Center looked and functioned like a championship venue should. “And the GCAT parents really stepped up and worked so well, too! They brought in food and water, coordinated everything outside, and provided all the timers.” Mary Ryan’s view very clearly includes all the hard work required behind the scenes as well as in the spotlight for an event of this magnitude. “There are two timers per lane, and there are 16 lanes for each race -- so that’s 32 timers, eight hours a day for three full days of racing. That’s a lot of support from these folks. And local swimmers from other age groups were here volunteering as well. All of them were just phenomenal!”
Close to 600 swimmers came to this State Meet, hoping to make a splash or possibly to set a record time for their event. Aquatics Superintendent Cord Hershey talks about what it means to them. “They are focused. They’re trying to be the best in the state at their age!" And for those who do leave this meet as the best in the state? "There are other levels, other goals, and other races like Sectionals and Nationals” where they can prove themselves as young champions to watch.
The Aquatic Center is home to plenty of non-competitive swimmers, too, and Mary Ryan is proud to have brand-new swimmers of every age -- from infants to adults. “We’re a top-notch facility hosting top-notch swimmers, but most of all, we exist to support the sport of swimming. We’re here to provide the safe environment for people who are wanting to swim at all levels.”
“We offer ‘learn to swim’ lessons. Then the next step would be stroke school, where we break down the four strokes and teach the correct techniques. Next, there is our developmental swim team program, the Chatham Kraken. That team practices twice a week for an hour and is a little bit more advanced. If they get really good at it, and if it’s something they really enjoy, then we're a feeder program into United States Swimming. That's the organization for the three competitive teams that train here.”
