SUN, FUN AND OLD FRIENDS COMMUNITY SWIM MEET MAKES A SPLASH.Byline: Amy Raisin raisin, in botany and cooking raisin, dried fruit of certain varieties of grapevines bearing grapes with a high content of sugar and solid flesh. Although the fruit is sometimes artificially dehydrated, it is usually sun-dried. Staff Writer VALENCIA - Honoring nearly 30 years of tradition, the Old Orchard orchard, generally an area on which fruit or nut trees are planted and cultivated. The words grove and plantation are often used when the fruits are tropical, e.g., a "citrus grove" or a "banana plantation. neighborhood kids were at it again Saturday, splashing and racing in the community pool as parents cheered from folding chairs. About 220 kids - 5- to 16-year-olds from homes in either Old Orchard I or II - kept the friendly neighborhood rivalry alive with relay races relay race Race between teams in which each team member successively covers a specified portion of the course. In track events, such as the 4 × 100-m and 4 × 400-m relays, the runner finishing one leg passes a baton to the next runner while both are running within and individual events like the breaststroke and butterfly. ``It's so fun, and I get better every time,'' said Cortni Shaffer, 11, who competed for the Old Orchard II Sharks Sharks may refer to:
While the Old Orchard I Dolphins took first place this year, the poolside pool·side n. The area next to or around a swimming pool. chatting and bustle bus·tle 1 intr. & tr.v. bus·tled, bus·tling, bus·tles To move or cause to move energetically and busily. n. Excited and often noisy activity; a stir. of bathing suit-clad playmates revealed a competition that was less about winning and more about enjoying sunshine and friends. Andy Stewart, a plumbing contractor and this year's meet director, said the community looks forward to getting together and often cheers for the opposing team. Shannon McCarthy, a 15-year-old Junior Olympics swimmer, agreed that Saturday's event is a far cry from her competitive swim meets. ``It's really fun for me because I swim (in a) club and there's a lot of stress there,'' said the daughter of Hart High's girls swim coach. ``Here, it's a really fun atmosphere, and you can just play with your friends.'' Some set up tents outside the gated pool for the all-day event. And like a true neighborhood party, children's bicycles were strewn strew tr.v. strewed, strewn or strewed, strew·ing, strews 1. To spread here and there; scatter: strewing flowers down the aisle. 2. along the grass outside the gates. Ronnie Stewart, a 7-year-old blonde missing her front teeth, explained the theory behind the competition and its enduring popularity. ``It's not that you want to win, it's just for the fun of it,'' she said, as her 6-year-old, dripping-wet cousin nodded in agreement nearby. ``And on a hot day, there's nothing really else to do but have fun.'' CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) Ian Marcheschi, 13, swims the breast stroke on his way to victory at Saturday's annual swim meet at Old Orchard Pool. (2) Jimmy Kelley, 11, dives into the pool for his relay race Saturday in Valencia. (3 -- 4) Swim meet competitors, above, sport their team logos on their headgear headgear, n the apparatus encircling the head or neck and providing attachment for an intraoral appliance in use of extraoral anchorage. headgear, radiologic, n a device that is used to protect the head from injury by radiation. during Saturday's races. At left, William Shandra shows his backing for the Old Orchard II Sharks. (5) Assistant coach Julius Chen encourages Jordan Kuch in Saturday's meet between the Old Orchard II Sharks and the Old Orchard I Dolphins. David R. Crane/Staff Photographer |
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