The Athens Gators swim team finished in first place at their district championship meet late Thursday afternoon, beating out Florence’s swim team as well as inclement weather that threatened the event being postponed.

The meet, which was held at the Athens Sportsplex Pool, was at risk of being canceled right after it started due to bad weather that rolled in over the outdoor pool. The weather delays caused by lightning strikes in the area caused all competition to be closed for close to an hour before the meet resumed again.

Athens, who scored 208 more points than Florence’s team, won District One of the Alabama Recreation & Parks Association (ARPA), and had a large number of swimmers qualify for the statewide championship.

“We have swimmers from the age of 5 all the way up to 18, and we’ve got about 150 swimmers in total on the team this year,” Gators head swim coach Jessica Aaron Hopper said. “The growth we’ve seen over the last couple of years has helped us tremendously, and helped us achieve things we never thought possible.”

With the ARPA State Swimming and Diving Meet starting in less than two weeks, July 20-22, this district’s meet was mainly used as a qualification round for the summer’s state championship.

“We know that there is a good amount of pressure that comes with swimming in meets like this,” Hopper said. “We wanted them to not overthink what they are doing, and trust that they know how to do what they’ve been doing.”

That kind of mindset helped catapult nearly 50 of Athen’s swimmers to great success, as they out swam the state qualifying times in their respective events, earning an invitation to the state meet later this month.

“It is truly wonderful to see,” Athens High School’s head swim coach Robin Holland said. “Swimming is a very individual sport. So, to see kids who may not be able to participate in other sports celebrate together is wonderful.”