The Ada  Gators will swim their last event for the summer of 2023 at the 40th annual Elks Invitational Swim Meet and WOAL League Championship in Kenton on July 7-8. Of the 90 swimmers on the Sardines team, 46 will be competing at Champs.

Five graduated seniors on the team are Lucas Bell of Bath, Kaitlyn Bowden of Ada, Cohen Callahan of Bath, Brayden Miller of Ada and Daxton Truman of Bath. Christina Bowden told the Icon that the Gators “are a very young team and we have many new and developing swimmers.” 

Bowden also noted that “Ada does not host Champs, so our role is to collect senior information from all the teams in the league, write up their biographies, create a keepsake page for them that is displayed at Champs, order the senior shirts, and coordinate the senior ceremony to recognize the seniors on Saturday morning. There are 18 senior swimmers this year from the 8 teams that participate in the WOAL.”

In 2023, the Ada Gators are led by head coach Emily Harnishfeger with assistant coaches Lucy Deters, Sydney Koslakiewicz, Dave Lusk and Mattie Huber. 

Bowden also noted, “Kelly Huber has done amazing things with our ‘Little Gators’ for many years. She has been working hard with our Little Gators to try to make our youngest swimmers meet-ready. We are very proud of everyone's dedication to the team including the swimmers, coaches, and parents. Go Gators!!!“

Family and friends are invited to attend the Kenton meet at the Kenton Municipal Swimming Pool,920 W Franklin St. More than 500 swimmers will compete at the event, which is open to swimmers aged 5-18 who are members of a Western Ohio Aquatics League team. The meet is free and open to the public.

Teams participating in the competition are from Ada, Bluffton, Findlay, Kenton, Shawnee Country Club, Wapakoneta, Westside and Van Wert.

Friday, July 7 - 9:00 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday, July 8 - 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

League champs will be crowned at the end of day two and 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. 

Food trucks will include 101 Smokehouse; Kona Ice (Findlay); Mark’s Homemade Ice Cream; Circle U Waffle Co. ; Glazed Over (Kenton); Moore than Just BBQ; Burgers, Fries and More and Kloepfer’s Kitchen.