The Flying Fish Get Wet & Place 3rd at the CCAA Championships!

Members of Daniel Island’s Flying Fish swim team were in top form early this week as the three-day Coastal Carolina Aquatics Association (CCAA) Championships began. Determined to improve upon last year’s impressive fourth place finish, the team emerged in first place at the end of the first day of competition.

By the end of day two, the 20-time defending champions from Snee Farm had moved into first place, knocking the Flying Fish to third place, but not breaking their spirit as they competed against other local teams like Coosaw Creek, who ultimately came in second, and Shadowmoss, who placed third at last year’s meet but were knocked back to fourth this year by the Flying Fish, who took third.

The Flying Fish warm up for the "City Meet" Tuesday afternoon at the Pierce Park pool.

The CCAA Championships, or “City Meet,” is the season-ending competition for hundreds of young swimmers representing 22 teams from around the Lowcountry. At just six years old, the Flying Fish is one of the league’s newcomers, but it has quickly advanced to become one of the top teams on the roster.

Their first season, the Flying Fish ranked 23rd out of 25 teams. Now, in their sixth season, they’ve competed and raced their way to become third in the league! Made up of 160 team members, aged 5-17, the Flying Fish ended their season on an extremely high note and everyone involved is already itching for next year’s season.

“The determination and dedication of the children as well as the parents is amazing,” says Rita Ryan, a parent coordinator of the team. “We owe a lot to our incredible coaching staff.  We hope to keep building the strength of the team over the next few years!”

Thanks also go out to the hundreds of parents, volunteers and sponsors who supported the team this year.

Until next year, congratulations to the Flying Fish!