 | The Heatherfield swim team was founded in 1985.
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| Some of the members of that first team included future coaches Peggy Burnell,
Scott McLaughlin (Denny's son and Chris' brother), Rachel
Weir (Megan Deitmen's older sister), and a 6-year old Justin Spitzer.
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| The team's first "lane ropes" were simply nylon ropes with pieces
of foam on them.
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| The first starting blocks were homemade out of wood by one of the fathers on
the team, the late Chuck Mirarchi. They were not bolted into the cement,
so timers had to stand on the back of the blocks so they wouldn't move during a
start. Also, they were placed in the shallow end of the pool. This
is just one example of the long history of support and service the team has
received from parents of swimmers.
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| Past coaches of the team (prior to 1997), in order, include Chris Schug
(now Chris Luttrell), Bert
Marlin, Peggy Burnell (Chris' older sister), Chris Billett, Rachel Weir, and
Dustin Smith. Most coached for approximately 2 years each.
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| Past team presidents include Ken Deitmen (Megan's father), Gail Burnell
(Chris and Peggy's mother), Suzanne Miller, Nancy Spitzer (Justin's mother), and
Lou Ann Benedict.
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| The original name of the team was the Heatherfield Strokebusters! We
had T-shirts and a large banner with a picture of a swimmer surrounded by a
large red circle with a line through it, just like the Ghostbusters logo!
Before and after meets, the PA system played the Ghostbusters theme song, and
everyone would yell "Strokebusters!" during the song instead of
"Ghostbusters."
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| Before acquiring the current electronic starting and PA
system about 5 years ago, the team used a loud cap gun to start races during
home meets and a large guitar amp to announce upcoming races and swimmers'
names!
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| Heatherfield was originally in the now defunct "D" Division of the
Mid Penn Swim League. Other "D" teams included the also now
defunct Pennbrook (20 yard pool!), Blue Mountain, and Harrisburg swim
teams. The short lived Harrisburg team consisted of inner city kids
coached by Rusty Owens. He would round them up on Saturday mornings in his
van and drive them to swim meets, where their "official" team suit was
jean shorts!
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| Prior to 1997, the team never had more than 40 or 45 members, and generally
only won 1 or 2 meets per year on average. In 1997, a number of new
families joined the team and increased the roster size to over 70, beginning a
run of 16 wins and only 4 losses over the next 4 years as the team continued to
grow and prosper. That stretch was highlighted by a perfect 5-0 record and
"C" Division championship in 1998.
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| The Heatherfield Hurricanes name comes from a home swim meet held in the mid
1990s. A Hurricane was passing through, causing torrential rains during
the meet! The older boys on the team - Justin Spitzer, Chris Burnell, and
John Schminky - spent most of the meet in the team's equipment shed
when not in the pool! The next year, a contest was held to choose a new
team name and Hurricanes was the winner in honor of that meet. Justin's
younger brother, Jared, then designed the logos you see on the home page of this
website. The name remains unchanged to this day.
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| The 2004 team accomplished something no Heatherfield team had ever done -
a B Division Championship! Here is a brief chronology
of Heatherfield's gradual ascent within the Mid-Penn Swim League:
1985: team begins in D Division
1987: wins D Division and moves up to C Division in 1988
1998: wins C Division and moves up to B Division in 1999
2004: wins B Division and moves up to A Division in 2005
For a season by season list of Team results, see our team
records page.
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| At least seven Heatherfield swimmers have achieved the impressive feat of first place
individually at Mid-Caps: Megan Deitmen, Kyle Atwell, Holly Pezzuti, Bill Houck,
Chip Benedict, Rachel Cherry, and Jay Kosier.
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| Heatherfield once hosted the "C" Division Championships!
Because of the limited space around the pool, most of the teams had to sit on
the grass outside the gates, near Lopax road!
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| 2005 marked Heatherfield's first ever season in A Division. The
team was able to survive it's first season in the very competitive division
with a 1 - 4 record.
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| The team made great strides in A Division in 2006, improving
it's record to 3 - 2! 48 Heatherfield swimmers swam at All-Stars and
35 at Mid-Caps, new
team records.
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For over a decade prior to 2008, we had plastic
starting blocks which were not ideal, but now we have high quality metal
blocks that allow for faster starts and better times.
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2008 was Heatherfield’s best year ever, with a 4-1
record in “A” Division, plus 74 All-Star and 52 Mid-Cap swimmers!
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What history will YOU make in 2009??!! |
