Written by Abbey Hunter<\/p>\n
Harding students are coming together to help kids in the Searcy area learn the fundamentals and life long positive effects of swimming.<\/p>\n
The Crawfish Aquatic Team of Searcy, also known as CATS, is a competitive swimming program that began four years ago at Harding.<\/p>\n
The program originally started in order “to provide a summer league, competitive swimming program in a Christian environment,” J.D. Yingling, professor of Kinesiology and Director of Aquatics at Harding, said.<\/p>\n
Steve Worthy, a former Harding student and outstanding swimmer, coached the team for the first two summers, but it is now run by Yingling and three other Harding students.<\/p>\n
The program consists of 13-week sessions in the fall, spring and summer. CATS participants compete in meets occasionally throughout the year and practice two to three times a week during the school year.<\/p>\n
“We want to provide and inexpensive, low-pressure introduction to competitive swimming,” Yingling said. “Swimming is a great lifetime sport. We want to teach kids competitive skills– freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, starts and turns that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives.”<\/p>\n
Three Harding students, Katherine Kilpatrick, Emily Gastellum and Danielle Fontenot, are currently on staff coaching the swimmers.<\/p>\n
“I love being able to be an example to younger kids,” Freshman CATS coach Danielle Fontenot said. “It’s a good feeling when they look up to you and respect you.”<\/p>\n
Yingling said as the kids progress and acquire new skills, their self-esteem and physical fitness improve, and they learn to compete on a higher level.<\/p>\n
“Some of the swimmers move on to swim for the Searcy Sharks, the local USA swim club,” Yingling said.<\/p>\n
He said swimming is a great sport that helps children gain self-confidence as they improve. It also provides overall muscular fitness and cardiovascular fitness for the participants.<\/p>\n
“We stress competition with themselves over others,” Yingling said. “We want the swimmers to try to improve their time and skills every times they enter in a meet.”<\/p>\n
CATS is in need of at least one or two more swimming instructors for the upcoming summer season. Those interested who have a background in competitive swimming can contact J.D. Yingling for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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