Founded 1954
The Panama City Swim
Team has been in existence since 1954, first as the Panama City
Swim Club, and later as the Panama City Swim Team (PCST). The
following is a letter from one of our original members that really
tells the story of how we got started.
The roots of
today’s “Panama City Swim Team” were established
50 years ago. The team was a member of the Amateur Athletic Union
of the United States. This status would allow a participant to
eventually qualify for the United States Olympic team if they had
enough talent.
The team was sponsored by the Panama City YMCA that was located in
a two story building at 544 East 6h St. The basketball gym was
housed there for league basketball teams to compete. My father,
John Colmant Sr., along with coach Robert Austin and other parents
formed the team through registrations at the “Y” of
girls and boys ages 6-18 years old.
A city school bus would pick up swimmers at 7:00 am Mon-Fri. during
the summers at the Cove shopping center located on cherry street in
the cove (still there). The bus would make several stops on the way
to the beach. We were fortunate enough to have use of an Olympic
sized pool that was AAU certified to hold competitions. It had 1
meter, 1 ½ meter and 3-meter diving boards for the diving
competitions. The pool was called “Open Sands Pool”,
and was located in the Open Sands neighborhood, which still exists
today. The subdivision is just west of Surfside Middle School on
the same side of back beach road on the beach. The pool was later
filled in and homes stand there today.
I remember the bus was full everyday, so we must have had 30-40
members. We were a dedicated group. We held local meets with swim
teams from Tallahassee and Pensacola. Every summer we competed in
the “Tobaccoland Invitational” held in Moultrie,
Georgia. There would be 60 or more teams from the tri-state area.
There you could occasionally see swimmers and divers that held
national records.
We always competed at the district meets held at Levy Pool in
Tallahassee. We would place several people there who would go on to
compete at the state meet usually held in Jacksonville or Lake
Worth. A person had to finish in the top six people at district to
qualify to go to state. I went to state several times in freestyle,
butterfly and as anchor on the medley relay team. The only time I
placed was on the medley team in the 10-12 year category. We took
4th place. My brother, John Colmant Jr. was an excellent diver at
all heights and placed in state twice. The top 3 finishers at state
went on to compete at nationals. Our team never sent anyone to
nationals.
We were always beaten at state by the teams from south Florida
because they could practice year round because of their warm
weather. Our pool was not heated or indoors, so we could only
practice in the summertime. We always did well against panhandle
teams, because they too had limited practice time.
I was on the team from 1954-1961. I have very fond memories of the
team on the bus riding to swim meets. Parents in cars were always
right behind us. Parent participation was abundant on our team. We
would stay in army barracks (no air conditioning) when we had to
spend the nights on the road. Awesome medals, ribbons and trophies
were always awarded at the meets.. it was very exciting.
 
The pictures are (left to right) incredibly dedicated Swim Coach
Bob Austin, local sports commentator Frank Pericola and John
Colmant Sr., president of the Panama City Swim Club. The bus
picture was taken in 1956. I am the guy with the cool black socks
standing in front of the bus. My big brother, John Colmant is the
tall guy standing in the door of the bus.
So as you go practice, go with pride. .you are part of one of the
oldest swim teams in the state. Swim as good as you can, and that
will be victory enough..go team.
Signature
Webb Colmant
Panama City, FL
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