WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—Congratulations are flowing in after the Woodcliff Lake Lakers won the Central Bergen Swim League championships for the second year in a row, this year July 24 at Mahwah’s town pool.
According to Angela Maday, president of the Woodcliff Lake Lakers Swim Association, the team of 54 swimmers, who swim at Old Mill Pool, consists of 22 girls and 32 boys ages 6–17 from Woodcliff Lake, Hillsdale, River Vale, Montvale, Washington Township, Old Tappan, and Wood-Ridge.
The league is home to competitors based in Hasbrouck Heights River Edge, New Milford, Waldwick, Mahwah, and Woodcliff Lake.
Maday lauded Head Coach Baki Baykal, who turned in back- to-back championships in his two years with the team. And she said the kids are outstanding.
“We are all very proud of each swimmer’s contributions this year, as they all had a huge part in a successful season,” Maday told Pascack Press on Aug. 6.
On July 30 the program sent its largest group yet—15 swimmers—to the New Jersey Pool Managers Association Swim Championship, a countywide weeklong contest of each team’s top swimmers.
Mayor Carlos Rendo offered his congratulations on the league win, saying in part, on social media, “After facing the threat of having their budget cut, the Woodcliff Lake boys/girls swim team has persevered and won the championship for the second year in a row! You made Woodcliff Lake proud! I will always support you!”
Maday said she was grateful for the team’s many backers, including its families—and its fans in high places.
“Yes, we have also had a lot of issues with the team funding this past spring, and we really appreciate Mayor Rendo’s ongoing support of our team,” she said.
The program says on its website, “Swimming is an excellent sport in which children can participate. It rewards not only team achievement but also individual achievement. Individual progress is clearly evident in the times achieved by the swimmer, and is a direct result of the commitment and dedication to the swimmer.”
It adds, “Swimming has long been recognized as one of the best overall conditioning activities and is an important life skill to acquire.”
Swimming starts for virtually all swimmers with the summer club leagues, where the rudiments of the sport are learned and put to use in friendly competition.
Interested in joining for 2020? Registration opens in May. For more information, visit wcllakersswim.com or find the Lakers on Facebook.