By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was a swim team.

The latter refers to what Ellington faces these days. After a hiatus of over ten years, the Ellington swim team was reestablished in 2005, and now competes in the River Parish Swim League.

But in a league so competitive from top to bottom, Ellington has had its struggled in its first few seasons back – many on the team are young, first time swimmers, and those swimmers often find themselves outnumbered.

&#8220We don’t have every age group covered at this point,” said Ellington league representative Darby Berthelot. &#8220We might only have a swimmer or two in some strokes, and in relays it really hurts us, we’ll end up having to forfeit.”

While Ellington finished at the bottom of the league in 2007, Berthelot is patient. He knows well that a team is very unlikely to hit the ground running after building from scratch. He sees a bright future ahead.

&#8220We’re going to continue to grow,” Berthelot said. &#8220The stronger younger swimmers that we have, they’re going to get older, and make those groups more competitive. Then we start to bring in some other good young swimmers to replenish.”

Berthelot says that he sees the gap closing when he looks at the standings now.

&#8220If you look at us two summers ago, the gaps between our team and theirs in the meets opposed to now, you can see the difference in our competitiveness,” he says.

In particular, Ellington’s meet back on June 11 against Sun Villa was a boon to his team’s confidence, despite the loss.

&#8220That was our closest meet,” Berthelot said. &#8220It was a gap of about 60 points, but it empowered the kids. It showed them that they are capable of winning.”

And for Ellington, he feels, the sky is the limit going forward.

&#8220A lot of our younger kids are still developing their strokes,” he said. &#8220There’s so much potential with them. Give us a couple more years, and you can see a powerhouse.”

A new head coach will inherit the returning talent. Ellington’s coach this summer was Mike Guillot, but he is moving to Baton Rouge, leaving Ellington on the hunt for a new leader.

&#8220We hate to lose Mike,” Berthelot said. &#8220We’d like to be able to have a bit of consistency at the coaching position. A lot of our senior swimmers are talking about returning though for next year, which would be a big help.”