CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
For the 17th year in a row, the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA has sponsored the Y State Swimming Championship, which will be held all-day March 7 and 8. Hundreds of Marshalltown girls and boys will compete. Marshalltown swimmers from a 2019 photo: front row: Sam Greazel, Nick Wise, Maisie Gummert, Alayna Frederick, Isabelle Boone, Faye Gilbertson, Addison Elmore, Cully Elmore, Luis Manuel Calderon. Middle row: Celci Waltermire, Lesli Waltermire, Charlie Gilbertson, Michael Lechnir, Adam Boone, Noah DeSotel, Joe Greazel, Asher DeSotel, Erin Stanley, Harper Wilson, Riley Robinson, Averie Wittkop, Samantha Propp, Jacob Seberger. Top row: Dane Petty, Beckham DeSotel. Not pictured: Jack Nelson, JP Jones, Cohen Thatcher, Alexis Crouch and Elise Imsland.

The Marshalltown YMCA will host the Iowa YMCA State Championship Swim Meet March 7 and 8. Three hundred ninety-four boys will compete on March 7 and 360 girls the following day.

The races will take place in the Marshalltown Natatorium, which boasts an eight-lane 25 yard pool with Daktronics timing at both ends and seating for more than 2,500 people.

Shelley Lechnir, aquatics director and head coach of the Blue Wave Swim Team, said she expects around 2,000 people to attend the championship.

Thirty swimmers between the ages of 7 and 15 from Marshalltown will participate in the meet.

They have been preparing for this meet for months, since the season began in October.

Timothy Flynn of Timothy Flynn Photography will take photos of the event, and sports photos can be pre-ordered until March 6.

The parade of athletes’ theme will be “Dance Party of the Century,” with competitors representing many different decades through costumes and music.

“We do a parade of athletes prior to the meet,” Lechnir said. “During the parade the kids can dress up in the theme.”

She said the kids have a lot of fun with the parade.

Lechnir wants kids in the Blue Wave Swim Team to know their coaches will be cheering them on.

“The coaches are super proud of all the Blue Wave swimmers. They really earned their spots,” she said.