There are a few sports that get a lot of attention in East Central Alabama. Area residents pack the stands at football stadiums across the area week in and week out during football season. The gymnasiums are filled for basketball games in the winter and lawn chairs are crowded close to the fence at baseball games every spring.
While football, basketball and baseball will probably always draw a crowd in the area, interest in other sports seems to come and go. And when an athlete comes onto the national or international and breaks records and wins all that can be won, interest in the sport that person represents seems to rise in America.
Tiger Woods and golf. Andre Agassi and tennis. Those players brought their respective sports to a new level with big wins and commanding performances. Now there’s another athlete joining the ranks and bringing his sport along for the ride.
If known for nothing else, the 2008 Olympics will be remembered and talked about because of Michael Phelps’ domination in swimming. He broke seven world records on his way to eight gold medals in Beijing. Swim instructors across the nation expect Phelps’ feat to encourage a lot of young people to get involved in the sport.
Ray Holmes, aquatics director for the Sylacauga Parks and Recreation Department, feels like people will see a difference on the local level as well.
“Swimming doesn’t get that much exposure to begin with,” Holmes said Tuesday. “When you have something like he did happen, it really raises the attention. It can’t do anything but help increase interest in the sport.”
Holmes said children in Sylacauga who are interested in becoming the next swimming sensation could get started on the road to reaching that goal right in the city.
“We participate in the USA swimming program, the feeder program for the Olympic team,” Holmes said. “That’s where Michael Phelps started out. You keep moving to higher championship meets, then eventually qualify for the Olympic qualifying meets.”
Holmes said a lot of world swimming records fell in the Olympics this year because of several factors, including a fast pool, new technology in swimsuits as well as a group of stellar male and female athletes competing in Beijing.
“It was more or less a perfect storm,” Holmes said.
The swimming programs are about to get started again in Sylacauga and Holmes said people interested in joining could register anytime.
“Our learn to swim program, which is for kids that actually cannot swim, is getting started,” he said. “Some of our older swim team members teach the classes. The kids actually learn to swim with all the stroke techniques instead of just learning to swim. (For the swim team) we have gold, silver and bronze levels. The levels are not based on age. It’s based on skill level.”
