The final score of this week’s meet was Whitehall Pool & Tennis Club (WPT) 598, Belair Bath & Tennis (BBT) 581.5, Belair Swim & Racquet (BSR) 465.5, and Pointer Ridge Swim & Racquet Club (PR) 201.
The Girls 18 & Under 200 Meter Medley Relay event set the competitive tone for the meet early when Whitehall beat BBT by 0.04 seconds.
The winner beat the second-place finisher by less than one second in 12 out of 49 events Tuesday night.
“Family” was one theme for the meet with cousins Joey Coleman and Ella Gannett from BBT combining to win two events, sisters Cecilia and Faith Saarinen from WPT winning three events, brothers Omar, Suleiman, and Ibrahim Mourad from WPT winning six events, and brothers Ethan, Ryan, and Thomas Zurowski from BBT winning seven events.
Seven swimmers won all three of their individual events including Cara Craig and Autumn Gaskins from BSR, Ryan Meledick, Ethan Zurowski, and Emma Henchcliffe from BBT, and Omar Mourad and Clare O’Keefe from WPT.
Five swimmers won two of their individual events including Kyle Smith from BSR, Ryan Zurowski and Thomas Zurowski from BBT, and Hayden Karasiewicz, Suleiman Mourad, and Cecilia Saarinen from WPT.
No new City Meet records were set this year, but one BBT pool record and one BBT team record were broken.
WPT’s Omar Mourad swam the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Butterfly in 27.29 seconds, breaking the previous BBT pool record time of 27.47 that had been in place since 2015.
BBT’s Ryan Meledick swam the Boys 13-14 50 Meter Butterfly in 28.87 seconds, beating a BBT team record he set only three days earlier. Prior to Meledick’s record-breaking 2023 swims, the previous record of 29.10 had been in place since 1980.
Tuesday’s swim meet was the 50th time that Bowie pools came together for the annual City Meet. Whitehall, BSR, and BBT competed in the first Bowie City Meet in 1972, and Pointer Ridge began participating in the meet starting in 1973. The Bowie City Meet has been held annually since 1972 with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid concerns.
The meet host team, Belair Bath & Tennis, decorated the venue to match the team’s 2023 Bowie City Meet theme, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Teams traditionally choose a different theme each year, and swimmers will dress in costume or wear t-shirts matching their team’s theme. Each team is formally introduced as they enter the venue, and swimmers march once around the pool, showing their costumes and team pride.
Whitehall Pool & Tennis will host the Bowie City Meet in 2024.
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