Kicking it up a notch turned out to be the perfect recipe for the Tamaqua Blue Waves Youth Swim Team, with many of the participants ending the regular winter season bedecked with medals.

The "Waves" routinely participate in the Anthracite Swim League, competing against other youth teams from Blue Mountain, Schuylkill Haven, Pottsville, Mount Carmel, Shamokin and Mahanoy Area. The ASL concluded its winter season with a championship meet at the Blue Mountain Middle School in March.The Tamaqua team started the championship meet by claiming a gold medal in the very first event, the Girls 8 and Under Relay (Addison Krall, Hailey Bowman, Abigail Whitehead and Savannah Wilson). In total, the Waves took home four gold and four silver team medals and 14 individual gold medals.This season, the team was challenged to add USA Swimming competitions to the mix. A dozen youngsters accepted that challenge and found themselves competing against teams from New Jersey, Delaware and throughout eastern Pennsylvania. (Tamaqua area swimmers have participated in USA-S events in the past, but this year was the first as a Tamaqua team).USA Swimming oversees the nation's swimming programs. Created by an Act of Congress as the national governing body for competitive swimming, the program is ultimately responsible for selecting members of the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. There are 59 USA-S developmental programs throughout the United States. Tamaqua is included in the Middle Atlantic Swimming Region. Participants see how they rank compared to other swimmers their age thanks to a series of time standards set by the USA-S.Tamaqua area competitors included Brianna Dumond, Jacqui Kokinda, Nicole Aguero-Ramirez, Chloe Diekman, Erika Zimmerman, Emily Newton, Joey Lescavage, Jack Tharp and Stephen Behun participating in age group meets.Will Behun, Katie Behun and Isabella Horvat took part in the national organization's mini program for those 8 and under, which offers shorter, fun themed meets. In addition to their regular practices and meets, the daring dozen spent almost every weekend in March competing at the championship level. That included the Bronze Championships at Parkland High School, the Mini Champs at La Salle University in Philadelphia, the Silver Championships at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster and a weekend at the swimmers' "Field of Dreams," the McCoy Natatorium at Penn State University's main campus."Honestly, I was impressed that so many of our swimmers qualified for Silver Champs this year. It's not an easy standard, and our kids have never done this before," said Coach Liz Pinkey, who coordinated the program with the support of the Blue Wave organization."This was a really good chance for some of our more experienced, dedicated swimmers to step outside their comfort zone and take things to the next level," Pinkey said. "Our county programs are very competitive, but it's also a good idea to see what else is out there. These kids really committed to extra practice time and kicked things up a notch. I think it really paid off for them in the end. We were able to bring home some hardware from all of the championship meets. Being new to the game, that really says something about how much heart and drive these kids have."The Blue Waves head coach is Jennifer Paisley, whose assistants also include Brandy Hackash, Matthew Stanek and Damon Krall. Paisley marveled at the accomplishments of her talented team, considering their home pool at Tamaqua Area High School was undergoing renovations from June through October 2015. The Waves were able to use the Lansford Pool, Mahanoy Area pool and the Tamaqua Bungalow to piece together practice times throughout the summer and the fall."We are truly grateful for the cooperation of our neighbors," Paisley said. "It truly would have been devastating to our program not to be able to swim for five months. We are also grateful we have the support of our school district and we were able to get back into the pool this winter. Maintaining continuity from season to season is what really helps our program grow."With the high school pool back in operation for the start of the winter season, the team squeezed in practice sessions whenever possible, sometimes at odd hours. Thanks to the mild weather, there were very few weather cancellations, with the exception of the first dual meet of 2016, which was postponed by the only major snowstorm the area had this winter."It was nerve-wracking, being so prepared and ready for the meet and then we get snowed out. Especially the first one, because so many kids are excited to see if they've improved from last season and our new kids are anxious to see their very first times," assistant coach Hackash said. "Once we have those first times, then everyone knows where they stand and how hard they have to work to make qualifying times."The times are important as swimmers must participate in a minimum of three league meets and meet specified qualifying time standards for each event. Out of the 93 members of the Blue Waves team, 54 swimmers qualified to participate in the league championship meet.The winter season is over, but the Blue Waves will continue to prepare for the future with spring conditioning sessions for current members and competing in the Schuylkill County Swimming Association's summer session."Our age group program has really grown over the last few years, despite all the bumps in the road. Hopefully, we can keep our momentum going, continue to grow our program and continue the tradition of excellent coaching and swimming that people have come to expect from the Blue Waves," said Aimee Dotson, who is the Blue Waves Booster Club president.For more information on the Blue Waves, find them on Facebook, Tamaqua Blue Waves, or email

luv2swimwaves@gmail.com.