Kenton to host annual swim meet

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KENTON — More than 500 swimmers and their families will descend on Kenton July 7-8 for the 41st annual Elks Invitational Swim Meet and Western Ohio Aquatics League (WOAL) Championship. The WOAL meet is for swimmers aged 5-18 who are members of a league team.

The Kenton Municipal Swimming pool is the host site for the 2023 swim champs and will host teams from Ada, Bluffton, Findlay, Kenton, Shawnee Country Club, Wapakoneta, Westside and Van Wert. These eight teams will compete for the 2023 league title.

Events start at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 7, and will conclude around 2 p.m. Day No. 3 will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 8, and will conclude around 3 p.m. The league champs will be crowned at the end of the day.

“Swimming is a great sport. Our region is very competitive in swimming,” said Miriam Dulin, Kenton area swim team WOAL pool representative. “The summer league is a great way to keep current swimmers active and provides a way for new swimmers to give competitive swimming a try.”

Each year the championships rotate between Bluffton, Kenton and Wapakoneta pools.

On Saturday, one female and one male WOAL 2023 high school graduating swimmer will be awarded the Beverly R. Little Memorial Scholarship in recognition of their participation in the WOAL Swim League. The Lima Mayor’s trophy will also be awarded by Kenton Mayor Lynn Webb to recognize an outstanding individual(s) service to the WOAL.

Local companies and individual sponsors for the WOAL include Lima Elks #54, the Beverly R. Little Scholarship Fund, Around the Clock, Century 21 Sunway Realty, Diamond M Vet Clinic, Golden Graphics, Graphic Packaging, JTB Tech, Kenton Fire Department, Office Experts, Poco Loco, Precision Strip, Quest FCU, and Rogers Insurance Agency.

Admission is free and open to the public. Food trucks will include; 101 Smokehouse, Kona Ice (Findlay), Mark’s homemade Ice cream, CircleU Waffle Co. Glazed Over (Kenton), Moore than Just BBQ, Buregers, Fries and More and Kloepfer’s Kitchen for and will be available throughout the event for food and beverage purchases.