Stingrays swim away with home victory

Black Mountain squad rides a wave of camaraderie to conference championship meet

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 28, 2023

Dozens of local athletes emerged from the churning waters of the Black Mountain Pool, July 26, as the Stingrays closed out the 2023 season with a home victory over McDowell.

The Black Mountain team, which features swimmers from ages 5 - 18, will travel to Valdese, Saturday, July 29, when they attempt to win their second consecutive Tarheel Swim League championship.

Re-established midway through the 2014 season, the youth swimming program includes approximately 150 members in its ninth full season, according to head coach and Black Mountain Pool director Beth Dalton Rathbone.

“We’re the biggest team in the league, at this point,” said Rathbone, who is also the head coach of the Owen Seahorse swim team. “We’ve had a great season so far, but our goal is to go to Valdese and bring another trophy home. It all comes down to this last meet.”

The Stingrays will be represented in each of the 84 conference championship events, the coach added.

“These kids work so hard in practice all summer, so they’re looking forward to competing for another championship,” she said. “Swimmers have to swim in at least two regular season meets to qualify for conference, where they can swim in a maximum of two relay or four individual events.”

Winning another title, however, is one of several priorities for the coaching staff.

“When we started this team, we wanted to create something that lasted beyond our time with the program,” Rathbone said. “What has been amazing is that this now reaches throughout Buncombe and McDowell Counties. I have swimmers who swim for T.C. (Roberson), Reynolds, Carolina Day and McDowell. These are high school swimmers in the area, and many of them started out in the sport as members of this team.”

Owen swimmers Ian Shirk, 17, and his brother Daniel, 15, are among the longtime members of the Stingrays who were introduced to the sport through the youth program, according to their mother, Crystal Shirk.

“I think Daniel was around 8 or 9 when they joined this team,” she said. “They originally came out here because some of Daniel’s friends were on the team, and Ian was working on his Boy Scouts swimming merit badge.”

Ian was required to swim 200 meters to qualify, but was uncomfortable in the water, Crystal continued.

“Beth told him she would help him pass the test, but he needed to join the team,” she said. “By the end of that first season he was able to do everything he needed to do for his merit badge, and that’s when he realized he loved swimming.”

Ian’s development as an athlete has been impressive, according to his coach.

“He wasn’t the strongest swimmer when he came out, but he’s always been one of the hardest workers,” Rathbone said. “No matter what I had him do, he did it. He never cheated a set, so if he had four laps to swim, Ian was doing all four.”

Both of her sons were encouraged by the supportive atmosphere of the Black Mountain program, Crystal added.

“Beth has this way of driving kids to want to be their best,” she said. “She gives them constructive criticism and pushes them, and she knows when they need to be pushed a little more but she also loves them, and they really respond to that.”

That approach is based on two key concepts, according to Rathbone.

“When we’re little our parents teach us to have some kind of faith, whether it’s in religion or something else,” she said. “Ultimately, that instills some sense of belief in something they can’t see. So, even if things are ugly in the moment, we really emphasize how much these kids need to believe in themselves.”

Swimmers are also encouraged to focus on their individual development.

“There’s no scoreboard in life, so we don’t really pay much attention to scores and times,” Rathbone said. “We try to teach them it doesn’t really matter what the person in the lane next to you is doing, because in life you have to work towards your own personal goals and push yourself to get better.”

While young athletes learn to value hard work, they receive constant support from a tight-knit swimming community, according to Lindsey Barnett, whose 10-year-old son Jonathan and 5-year-old daughter Anna are in their first season with the Stingrays.

“We just moved here from Atlanta and both of them swam on a neighborhood team there for three years,” Lindsey said. “One of the things that really impressed us about this team is how quickly it boosted their confidence in the pool while sparking a love for the sport.”

The family was surprised by the size of the local swim team in Black Mountain.

“This team has more kids than our previous team, but both of my children feel like they receive more attention here,” Lindsey said. “Coach Beth has already made all the difference in the world, and it’s so cool to see how she finds a way for every swimmer, regardless of their level, to shine. You can really see how each kid feels like a valuable member of the team.”

Joining the Stingrays has helped ease the transition to the family’s new home town, she added.

“When we moved up here I was really nervous for the kids because they had such a great community around them in our old neighborhood,” Lindsey said. “But, joining the swim team instantly gave them a place where they belong, and now they’re surrounded by friends. It’s pretty amazing.”

Fostering a healthy competitive environment around the program helps parents and the surrounding community raise responsible children, according to Rathbone.

“We try to instill an internal fire in these kids, because that will drive them to achieve things in life,” she said. “We tell them all the time that they’ve got to believe in themselves, and we show them that by constantly supporting them while they work to improve.”

As the Black Mountain Stingrays head to the conference championship, the young swimmers are riding a wave of confidence, according to their coach.

“They want to go out there and dominate while winning another title,” Rathbone said. “They’ve done all the work we’ve asked them to do, so now they just have to believe in themselves. I think they do.”

Photos of the Black Mountain Stingrays 2023 regular season finale against McDowell can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.