The Mason Manta Rays, a competitive swimming team based north of Cincinnati, Ohio, has more than 400 swimmers from as young as 6 years old, all the way up to 18. It’s growing so fast that there’s a waitlist to join and to make the competitive team takes a massive amount of discipline. While most of us are sound asleep, swimmers from 22 different high schools from all over Cincinnati start pulling in for a 5 a.m. practice. They may be tired, but when the lights turn on, the hard work begins. Around 260 people try out for the Mason Manta Rays High Performance team — 70 make it. “I woke up at 4:30 this morning. I got up and ate some breakfast and came here,” swimmer Taylor Bacher said.Maya Schweikert admits it’s not always easy, “Usually, it’s a little hard. You’re like, oh, I have to go to swim practice and jump in a cold pool,” Schweikert said.Jake Karulf, who’s in his senior year at Moeller, didn’t always love the water.”So I initially started when I was 6. I always tell people that I quit back then because the water was too cold, and so, I still stand by that. It is still too cold,” Karulf said. But at 11. Karulf was back in the pool.”And I’ve been swimming ever since,” Karulf said. For Bacher, swimming is in the family. Her four siblings also swam for the Manta Rays. She’s been on the team since she was five. She’s 17 now.”When I was young, I played a lot of sports. I never knew what I would turn out to be, and the Manta Rays just kind of made me love swimming at a young age, and I just knew that was what I was going to want to do when I was older,” Bacher said. The love for the pool comes with a price. These kids practice five to six days a week, sometimes twice a day and then travel to different cities for weekend meets. It takes sacrifice and a whole lot of discipline. Head coach Ken Heis has been in charge from the beginning in 2003. “They eat, sleep, swim. This is what they do,” Heis said.Schweikert is only 16. “It definitely seems a little crazy, but it’s normal for us,” Schweikert said. Maya is a sophomore at Kings, but she already has big dreams. “I have a sticky note on my desk from when I was 6 that says my goal is to be an Olympian,” Schweikert said. Thirty-five former Manta Rays are swimming in college right now, and some are swimming professionally, hoping to make the Olympic team. As good as these swimmers are, in the uber-competitive world of swimming, their coach knows it still may not be good enough, “And if they make it that’s great, but just to see them race and be at their best is what I’m most proud of,” Heis said. A couple of swimmers from the Mason Manta Rays could make it onto the Olympic team. Several who are still in high school have already made the Olympic trials. Three former Manta Rays are on the U.S. National team: Carson and Jake Foster, who are brothers, and Adam Chaney. All three are favorites for making it to the Summer Olympics in Paris.
The Mason Manta Rays, a competitive swimming team based north of Cincinnati, Ohio, has more than 400 swimmers from as young as 6 years old, all the way up to 18.
It’s growing so fast that there’s a waitlist to join and to make the competitive team takes a massive amount of discipline.
While most of us are sound asleep, swimmers from 22 different high schools from all over Cincinnati start pulling in for a 5 a.m. practice. They may be tired, but when the lights turn on, the hard work begins.
Around 260 people try out for the Mason Manta Rays High Performance team — 70 make it.
“I woke up at 4:30 this morning. I got up and ate some breakfast and came here,” swimmer Taylor Bacher said.
Maya Schweikert admits it’s not always easy,
“Usually, it’s a little hard. You’re like, oh, I have to go to swim practice and jump in a cold pool,” Schweikert said.
Jake Karulf, who’s in his senior year at Moeller, didn’t always love the water.
“So I initially started when I was 6. I always tell people that I quit back then because the water was too cold, and so, I still stand by that. It is still too cold,” Karulf said.
But at 11. Karulf was back in the pool.
“And I’ve been swimming ever since,” Karulf said.
For Bacher, swimming is in the family. Her four siblings also swam for the Manta Rays. She’s been on the team since she was five. She’s 17 now.
“When I was young, I played a lot of sports. I never knew what I would turn out to be, and the Manta Rays just kind of made me love swimming at a young age, and I just knew that was what I was going to want to do when I was older,” Bacher said.
The love for the pool comes with a price. These kids practice five to six days a week, sometimes twice a day and then travel to different cities for weekend meets. It takes sacrifice and a whole lot of discipline. Head coach Ken Heis has been in charge from the beginning in 2003.
“They eat, sleep, swim. This is what they do,” Heis said.
Schweikert is only 16.
“It definitely seems a little crazy, but it’s normal for us,” Schweikert said.
Maya is a sophomore at Kings, but she already has big dreams.
“I have a sticky note on my desk from when I was 6 that says my goal is to be an Olympian,” Schweikert said.
Thirty-five former Manta Rays are swimming in college right now, and some are swimming professionally, hoping to make the Olympic team.
As good as these swimmers are, in the uber-competitive world of swimming, their coach knows it still may not be good enough,
“And if they make it that’s great, but just to see them race and be at their best is what I’m most proud of,” Heis said.
A couple of swimmers from the Mason Manta Rays could make it onto the Olympic team. Several who are still in high school have already made the Olympic trials. Three former Manta Rays are on the U.S. National team: Carson and Jake Foster, who are brothers, and Adam Chaney. All three are favorites for making it to the Summer Olympics in Paris.
