Carle Place Swimmer Competes at States

How does one get to the New York State Swimming Competition? Practice, practice, and practice. For Carle Place sophomore Jayme Mac Kinnon her day starts with a swim practice and ends with a swim practice. This means getting to Christopher Morley pool in Manhasset early enough to get in a session and arrive at school before the bell. And when the bell rings at the end of the day it's a spring back to pool for a second practice session usually running from 4 to 7 p.m. And when does one find time for homework and studies? Obviously, Jayme has her strategy all worked out as she was recently inducted into The National Honor Society at Carle Place High School. Weekends are for relaxing and catching up on things? "Not quite." says Jayme. "I practice and compete in meets on Saturdays and Sundays."

On Nov. 14, Jayme took first place in the 100 yard meter breast stroke at the qualifying competition for "The States" held at Nassau Community College. She was the only female swimmer at The New York States competition held at Syracuse University, Nov. 21-24. Jayme represents Section VIII, which encompasses all of Nassau County.

And what got this gal into swimming? At the age of nine, it was fun in the pool that introduced Jayme to The United States swim team. She is now a member of LIAC (Long Island Aquatics Club) which runs meets on a regular basis throughout the year. In addition, Section VIII holds meets regularly for swimmers in Nassau County. The swimmers compete on an independent basis, since very few schools have swim teams. Recently, she competed in The Northeast Regionals, and brought home a second place medal. Congratulations Jayme on all your successes!

After the states, Jayme's next goal is to make the Junior National Team.