Strong swimmers and an even stronger team bond form for the Riptides
Andrew Vocill of Marion warms up. Photos by Bobby Grady
Eight-year-old Isa Duran of Wareham practices the butterfly.
Emily Gervais, 8, of Fairhaven reaches the end of a lap.
Rochester's Sam Reece, 8, works on the backstroke.
Evianna Silvia speeds down the lane.
Elle Prieur, 8, of Rochester races to beat Molly Beson, 8, of Rochester.
Beson races to beat Prieur.
Silvia finishes practice with a backstroke.
Andrew Vocill of Marion warms up. Photos by Bobby Grady
Eight-year-old Isa Duran of Wareham practices the butterfly.
Emily Gervais, 8, of Fairhaven reaches the end of a lap.
Rochester's Sam Reece, 8, works on the backstroke.
Evianna Silvia speeds down the lane.
Elle Prieur, 8, of Rochester races to beat Molly Beson, 8, of Rochester.
Beson races to beat Prieur.
Silvia finishes practice with a backstroke.
With big cheers, lots of team spirit and a drive to win, The Gleason Family YMCA Riptides are building a team head coach Brook Michaud hasn’t seen before.
“I’m feeling really excited,” Michaud said. “We have a lot of new kids joining us and I think they’re going to bring in some new talent.”
The Riptides swim team gets anyone aged 6 to 21-years-old in the pool to improve their swimming and compete in events across the state. The 2025 season got underway about a month ago and will run until March.
The team is coming off a successful campaign last year where five swimmers competed at the national meet by placing inside the top 20 of their event at the Baystate Games, a statewide, olympic style competition where kids can compete in a variety of events.
The first month of practice has been about getting technique down according to Michaud and she has already seen the kids start to come together as a team.
“We have kids going from barely being able to swim to actually being able to follow instruction and practice properly,” she said.
The Riptides had their first of nearly 25 meets Oct. 4 and 5 and Michaud said while there were individual accomplishments, her biggest takeaway was the support the kids gave each other.
“There was lots of team spirit, lots of excitement and I don’t think we saw any nerves,” she said. “Usually we’ll have a couple tears or someone will be really anxious but the energy was very positive.”
And that positive energy was not unique to the first meet. She said that she “has never seen or been a part of this type of team environment.”
“The kids give it their all and they’re all friendly with each other,” Michaud said. “They’re all encouraging each other and the group of coaches we have all work really well together.”
This type of support will also help the kids perform better in the pool, according to Michaud.
“[The kids] need to have a positive environment that’s building them up,” she said. “We want to help the kids do their best and swim faster than the person next to them while encouraging them.”
Ethan O'Brien, 9, of Rochester competed in his first meet for the Riptides and said getting second place was the best part.
“I liked doing the breast stroke,” Ethan said.
Eight-year-old Molly Beson of Rochester said she has been liking being a part of the team and her favorite part is swimming the butterfly.
“I’m most excited to swim the butterfly,” Molly said.
The team has another meet Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12 but instead of working on technique, the kids are working on getting faster.
“We have a good group going so I think we’ll see some good times and see some times drop," she said.
But the competitions aren’t about winning or losing, they’re about having fun and showing the kids what they are able to accomplish.
“We want to make sure that they’re progressing and dropping times and that they’re understanding their own progress,” she said.
