RIPON — It took years to get the Ripon Sea Lions to to this point.
Last year, the recreational swim team, which has been around since the 1960s, captured its first-ever Mid-Valley Swim League championship and is days away from repeating.
This Saturday and Sunday at Pitman High in Turlock, the Sea Lions can complete their second straight undefeated season. Considering how dominant the team has been, in both invitational and tri-meet competitions, chances of that happening are good.
“The odds are in our favor,” said assistant coach Erik Zador.
Zador, formerly the head coach for the Manteca Dolphins Swim Team (2000-04), is one of four coaches on the team.
His father, Ervin, is in his ninth season as head coach. He was part of the famed “Blood in the Water” Olympic water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary in the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne. The elder Zador and the Hungarians won the gold medal.
Former Sierra High swimming standout Megan Viduya and Ryan Zamzow make up the rest of the coaching staff.
Erik Zador said that the Sea Lions’ success has been years in the making.
The team’s current home, the Ripon Aquatic Center on the campus of Ripon High, was completed in April of 2003 and helped steer the swim program in the right direction.
With the City of Ripon and Ripon Unified School District doing their part in getting the pool, it was a matter of parent volunteers doing theirs to take the team to new heights. Zador gives President Julie Thompson and the rest of the board members credit for doing just that.
“The volunteers and the board members put in the time and the work and did it with pride,” Zador said. “The coaching staff has put a lot of passion into it, and obviously the swimmers themselves have a lot to do with it.
“I think it’s a culmination of all three — the volunteers and board members, the coaches, the swimmers. Without one, we wouldn’t have the success we’re having right now.”
Board member Bob Martin — whose daughter, Andria, is one of the Sea Lions’ top swimmers — said that participation has nearly doubled since his daughter tried out for the team four years ago. He estimated that the team has around 250 swimmers on board.
“Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” Zador said. “We started out real small, but the board has found ways to get kids involved and created a fun atmosphere.”
The board came up with the annual “Make the Meet” get-together. Swimmers qualify by participating in at least two events in all but one regular-season meet leading up to the MVSL Championships.
On Thursday, the 2010 “Make the Meet” outing took place at Manteca Bowl and Family Fun Center.
The achievements of the Sea Lions intertwine with the successes enjoyed by other aquatic sports programs in town.
Ripon Aquatics, headed by the Zadors and Zamzow, is a year-round competitive program that also offers water polo. The Ripon Aquatics Renegades under-14 water polo team qualified for the 2010 Junior Olympics, which will take place in Los Angeles starting July 31.
Swimming and water polo have grown so much in Ripon that the high school started its own swim team in 2009 and joined the Valley Oak League, which features all five Manteca Unified high schools (Manteca, East Union, Sierra, Lathrop, Weston Ranch) this past spring.
And next year, Zador will coach Ripon High’s first-ever season of water polo, but the team will start out playing an independent schedule before joining the Modesto Metro Conference in 2012.
Most of the athletes who participate in the more advanced programs got their start with the Sea Lions.
“We’ll eventually see the rec program feeding swimmers into the high school team, and the high school swimmers will be pushed to continue swimming over the summer with the rec program,” Zador said. “In the past the kids would just disappear for five months (after the recreational summer and extended fall seasons),” Zador said.
That no longer will be the case.
Win or lose this weekend, the Sea Lions have already succeeded.
The summer season will end with the 10th Annual Sacramento Valley Meet of Champions at the Woodland Community Swim Center in Woodland July 31-Aug. 1. Swimmers from each age division and event must meet qualifying times or place in the top 10 in their league championship meet to advance.
Last year, the recreational swim team, which has been around since the 1960s, captured its first-ever Mid-Valley Swim League championship and is days away from repeating.
This Saturday and Sunday at Pitman High in Turlock, the Sea Lions can complete their second straight undefeated season. Considering how dominant the team has been, in both invitational and tri-meet competitions, chances of that happening are good.
“The odds are in our favor,” said assistant coach Erik Zador.
Zador, formerly the head coach for the Manteca Dolphins Swim Team (2000-04), is one of four coaches on the team.
His father, Ervin, is in his ninth season as head coach. He was part of the famed “Blood in the Water” Olympic water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary in the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne. The elder Zador and the Hungarians won the gold medal.
Former Sierra High swimming standout Megan Viduya and Ryan Zamzow make up the rest of the coaching staff.
Erik Zador said that the Sea Lions’ success has been years in the making.
The team’s current home, the Ripon Aquatic Center on the campus of Ripon High, was completed in April of 2003 and helped steer the swim program in the right direction.
With the City of Ripon and Ripon Unified School District doing their part in getting the pool, it was a matter of parent volunteers doing theirs to take the team to new heights. Zador gives President Julie Thompson and the rest of the board members credit for doing just that.
“The volunteers and the board members put in the time and the work and did it with pride,” Zador said. “The coaching staff has put a lot of passion into it, and obviously the swimmers themselves have a lot to do with it.
“I think it’s a culmination of all three — the volunteers and board members, the coaches, the swimmers. Without one, we wouldn’t have the success we’re having right now.”
Board member Bob Martin — whose daughter, Andria, is one of the Sea Lions’ top swimmers — said that participation has nearly doubled since his daughter tried out for the team four years ago. He estimated that the team has around 250 swimmers on board.
“Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” Zador said. “We started out real small, but the board has found ways to get kids involved and created a fun atmosphere.”
The board came up with the annual “Make the Meet” get-together. Swimmers qualify by participating in at least two events in all but one regular-season meet leading up to the MVSL Championships.
On Thursday, the 2010 “Make the Meet” outing took place at Manteca Bowl and Family Fun Center.
The achievements of the Sea Lions intertwine with the successes enjoyed by other aquatic sports programs in town.
Ripon Aquatics, headed by the Zadors and Zamzow, is a year-round competitive program that also offers water polo. The Ripon Aquatics Renegades under-14 water polo team qualified for the 2010 Junior Olympics, which will take place in Los Angeles starting July 31.
Swimming and water polo have grown so much in Ripon that the high school started its own swim team in 2009 and joined the Valley Oak League, which features all five Manteca Unified high schools (Manteca, East Union, Sierra, Lathrop, Weston Ranch) this past spring.
And next year, Zador will coach Ripon High’s first-ever season of water polo, but the team will start out playing an independent schedule before joining the Modesto Metro Conference in 2012.
Most of the athletes who participate in the more advanced programs got their start with the Sea Lions.
“We’ll eventually see the rec program feeding swimmers into the high school team, and the high school swimmers will be pushed to continue swimming over the summer with the rec program,” Zador said. “In the past the kids would just disappear for five months (after the recreational summer and extended fall seasons),” Zador said.
That no longer will be the case.
Win or lose this weekend, the Sea Lions have already succeeded.
The summer season will end with the 10th Annual Sacramento Valley Meet of Champions at the Woodland Community Swim Center in Woodland July 31-Aug. 1. Swimmers from each age division and event must meet qualifying times or place in the top 10 in their league championship meet to advance.
