The Sedona Splash celebrated its 25th year in a big way.

The annual club swim meet, hosted by the Sedona Swordfish swim team, had 200 athletes from Northern Arizona participate, and previous Sedona swim coaches were honored for their contributions.

“Since swimming has happened in the Verde Valley, starting with small rec teams, each team would host its own meet and [the Sedona Splash] has been ours on the circuit,” Swordfish Head Coach A. Jay Bronson said. “It’s become the staple meet of the summer for us and Cottonwood.”

The Cottonwood Clippers won the meet in the combined scores as well as the women’s and men’s divisions. The Clippers accumulated a total of 4,800 points. The Swordfish weren’t too far behind with 2,163.5 points. The Kingman Dolphins placed third overall with 1,554.4, the Flagstaff Snow Sharks had 1,420.5 and the Lumberjack Aquatics placed fifth with 1,229.

The Sedona Swordfish are comprised of 8- to 18-year-old swimmers, with an equal number of swimmers in the 12 and under group and the 13 and higher group.

“We have high school kids who swim to stay in shape and get ready for the season,” Bronson said. “For the young kids, it lets them get used to swimming competitively and we hope they like it and want to continue it by the time they reach high school. Then we have some swimmers who don’t swim for the high school, but like to compete in the summers, so this allows them to do that.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, June 26, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.