JIM OBERDIER

The News Herald

After a successful inauguration, the Gulf Coast Invitational swim meet returns for a second attempt at bringing together some of the best youth swimmers in the Southeast.

Only this time, the name has changed.

The Gulf Coast ``End of Summer'' Invitational is exactly that.

Since many swim clubs will be on hiatus until early September, according to Gulf Coast Aquatics-Panama City Swim Team head coach Steve Panzram, the two-day meet that begins Saturday morning at the Gulf Coast Community College pool will serve as an excellent chance to end the summer on a good note.

``This is basically the end of the season for most swim teams,'' said GCA-PCST coach Steve Panzram. ``They take a break in August, so we've dubbed this the end of the season invitational. It's a way to say `let's wrap up the season and see what we can do.' ''

The invitation's name isn't the only thing that's changed.

``This year we also have a sponsor, Popeye's,'' GCA-PCST president Ken Schnell said. ``And I think we're a little bit bigger than we were last year.''

Panzram expects to have a showing equal to that of last year when GCA-PCST dominated the competition.

``That was the first time in a long time when Panama City swimmers have stood up and dominated their own meet,'' Panzram said. ``This meet last year really jelled our team. You could really see how nice it was to have Panama City and Pensacola kids on one team.

``The talent level is up from last year. I'm looking forward to seeing how we swim. This is the third meet in a row that our team is in, but not necessarily all the same swimmers.''

Like last year, Panzram's team is expected to account for about half of the field. This year's meet is expected to host about 200 swimmers ranging in age from 6 to 17.

In addition to teams from Mobile, Ala., Tallahassee, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach, Panzram said that Navarre, Niceville and Crestview are sending new teams. Panzram also said there will be a swimmer this weekend from Huntsville, Ala.

``Most meets, there are a few teams at the top competing against each other,'' Panzram said. ``As you go down, there's competition at all levels. You're swimming for your team, but you're still competing against people at your ability level.''

The invitational still faces an uphill battle in the future. With such a late summer staging, the field is limited because teams are ending their schedules so swimmers can enjoy a brief summer vacation before school resumes.

There's also the matter of running a clean meet. If done right, word-of-mouth advertising should help boost the size of the field in the next few years.

``This meet in this time frame is going to take a while to build up,'' Panzram said. ``People will find out about it and come next year. If we keep doing it right, they'll keep coming back.''

Warm ups for swimmers will begin at about 8:30 a.m. both days. There will be two sessions of competition with the first to begin at 9:30 a.m. All four sessions are free to the public.