Mae Martin, 12, is one of more than 100 members of the Athens Gators swim team participating in Tuesday's district swim meet. This is the first time in three years the district meet has been held in Athens.

Teams from Florence and Sheffield will compete against the Athens Gators swim team in a district meet here Tuesday.

“We rotate with Sheffield and Florence every year to host, so it’s been three years since it was held in Athens,” said Lori Martin, swim mom and swim team board member.

Competitors range in age from 5 to 18, so the competition is broken down into multiple events for each of six age groups. Each event focuses on a certain stroke — freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke or backstroke — and the individual medley includes one lap of each stroke, Martin said.

The top four swimmers in each event will move on to the state swim meet, which will be held in Opelika at the end of July.

Building the team

Martin’s family has been a part of the Athens Gators team for six years. There are more than 100 other members on the team, which begins registration in April.

“We have families from all over Limestone County, all different schools,” Martin said.

After parents register their children, the youths attend a week-long clinic and then try-outs.

“They come and work for four days with coaches, and then on the fourth day they have a length they have to swim based on their age,” Martin said. “The young kids have to swim one lap, which is 25 yards. If they can do that, they can be on the team.”

Practice begins in May, and there are up to six practices each week.

“We practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings at the city pool, and then we have practices at night on Monday and Wednesday that are optional,” Martin said.

In addition to practices, there are several swim meets throughout the summer. Martin said the district meet will run a little longer than regular meets, but it really depends on the number of swimmers involved.

“Normally, our meets are 5:30 to about 8,” she said. “This one is a lot longer with three teams, so it’ll be 4:30 until probably 8:30.”

Parents and children interested in learning more about the Athens Gators can visit www.athensgators.org. The team is coached by Jessica Aaron and open to Limestone County residents ages 5 to 18.