While shattering team records and hitting high benchmarks, the Riptides swim team is building a unique team dynamic.

The Gleason Family YMCA Riptides is a youth swim team that serves kids ages 6 to 22 from Wareham and around the South Coast. The team gives kids an opportunity to compete in swimming competitions throughout the state.

The season begins in early September and ends in mid March with the New England Swim Championship being held March 16 in Worcester.

The Riptides will be competing with around 50 other swim teams from across New England but Riptides Coach Brooke Michaud said she is confident the team will swim well because they have put together a strong season and the feeling among the kids is excitement — not nerves.

Michaud said the season can be defined in two words: growth and accomplishment. She said the team has many new members and they have proven no team record is safe.

"We've had four 8 and under records broken, two 9 and 10 records broken and eleven 11- and 12-year-old records broken," she said. "We're definitely close to 20 records broken this season."

These broken records have earned kids medals in competitions too.

"We had a lot of our kids place top five in our league championship meet," she said.

Growth and accomplishment has not just appeared on a stopwatch or standing on a podium. Many of the kids have swam the 500 meter, one of the most challenging events in swimming.

The race requires competitors to swim 20 lengths of the pool and Michaud said five kids between the ages of 8 and 13 swam the event for the first time.

"Seeing all those kids be confident enough to swim the 500 was awesome," Michaud said. "We have a number of older kids who have been on the team for multiple years who haven't swam it."

While the kids have been swimming well and pushing themselves in the pool, Michaud said what makes the Riptides who they are is their team dynamic, not their results.

Jason Anderson is a 13-year-old swimmer from Wareham who has been on the team for a number of years.

"My favorite parts of the season have been practices because I like being with my team and that is when we all get together," Anderson said. "I like how we got a lot of new kids who are liking the team."

Nine-year-old Ben Reece of Rochester and 8-year-old Peter Voci of Marion said their favorite parts of the season have been sharing meals with the team during meets. The two agreed nachos and meatballs were the best mid-meet meal.

Michaud is not just a coach, but also a parent to kids who have swam for the Riptides and she said the team dynamic from the oldest, most advanced swimmers to the youngest and newest swimmers is what made the Riptides who they are.

"My daughter swam here four years ago and we stupidly left for a year and quickly came back because the team environment is unlike anything else," she said. "During meets this pool deck is not quiet and the oldest seniors are cheering for the 6-year-olds. You won't find another team where your 18-year-old knows the name of their 6-year-old teammate."