Youth Development Stories

An Enchanting Morning

February 22, 2025

Our Princess Party on February 22 was a magical morning filled with music, dancing, and unforgettable memories! With 40 kids and their parents, we had nearly 90 people join in the fun. The excitement kicked off with a lively dance led by our enchanting princess, followed by a magical sing-along with Elsa. Rapunzel then led a royal parade, guiding the little princes and princesses to a special meet-and-greet. Each child had the chance to take pictures with their favorite princesses and get their crowns signed, making it a truly fairytale-worthy experience!

February 2025 Highlights

The Foothills Area YMCA Swim Team just finished competing in their SC Swimming Championship meets. February 13th-16th, FAY had five athletes ages 15-18 compete at the Senior State Championship meet in Rock Hill. These swimmers brought home seven medals and Jay Owens broke 2 team records in the 200 and 400 individual medley events.

The swim team also had ten 14&under athletes compete in Greenville at the Age Group State Championship meet from February 20th-24th. These swimmers brought home 23 medals and 5 top ten finished for their relays. Ellie Russell broke the 100 and 200 fly team records for the 13-14 girls, while Mary Greene broke the 1650 free team record for that same age group. Both girls qualified for their first YMCA Nationals meet in the 200 fly and 1650 free respectively, which will be held in Greensboro, NC the first full week in April. FAY currently has 5 athletes qualified for that meet with two more YMCA meets left on the schedule.

The FAY Swim Team continues to make waves, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish next!

SDOC Program Highlight Video

Fall 2024

Check out this highlight video of Northside Elementary School’s 3rd graders participating in our SDOC Safety & Survival Swimming Program last fall!

This program equips students with essential self-rescue skills and basic water safety to help prevent drowning. Drowning remains a serious risk, particularly for youth and underserved communities, but these tragedies are preventable. Our vision is that everyone should have the opportunity to learn how to stay safe in and around water.

First Swim Meet of 2025

January 17, 2025

Our Swim Team hosted another swim meet at McHugh Natatorium on the Clemson University campus January 17th-19th. They brought 150 swimmers from 5 different teams together to compete in a two and a half day USA Swimming competition. Jay Owens broke the team record in the 15-18 boys 200y breaststroke, they had six swimmers qualify for the SC Swimming state meet in an additional 10 races, and overall our swimmers went 63% lifetime times. Our athletes got loud at the end of every session cheering on our relays to victory in some very exciting races. What a phenomenal showing for the 38 athletes representing the Foothills Area YMCA.

FAY has two more regular season meets coming up and then they enter our Championship season which is a gauntlet of five meets over eight weeks. First up are the SC Swimming Senior and Age Group Championship meets where they have 16 athletes qualified to swim with the best that SC Swimming has to offer. More updates on those meets are coming up next month!

2024 Reflections - Swim Team

December 2024

The Foothills Area YMCA Swim Team experienced many changes this year but also achieved numerous accomplishments.

The swim team merged with the Clemson Aquatic Team, another local team, to create a stronger, more unified presence in the area. We’ve expanded from swimming at one location to two and have grown significantly. With all these changes, we look forward to the future and the possibilities it holds for swimming in the Upstate.

USA Swimming: At both of the Short Course State Championship meets in February 2024, FAY and CAT had a combined 19 swimmers competing:
  • At the age group state meet, Zoee Palmer led the way with 3 State Championship titles. There were 12 more top ten swims between Zoee, Ellie, Mary, and Isaac.
  • At the senior meet, FAY swimmers had a combined 6 top ten swims while CAT had a top ten placing relay.
In July 2024, CAT and FAY had a combined 18 swimmers at the Long Course State Championship meets:
  • At the age group meet, Zoee Palmer swam to another 3 State Championship titles. Between 6 other swimmers, both teams had 30 more top ten swims.
  • At the senior meet, Paige Durham was State Champion in the 1500 freestyle. Both teams racked up another 9 top ten swims.
  • Shout out to Jay Owens who swam his first Futures Championship qualification time and Alex Burkhart who swam a time that qualified him for the Open Water Junior National Championships.
In June, 4 swimmers competed for SC Swimming at the 2024 Open Water Zone Championship in Bowling Green, KY. In July, 2 swimmers competed for SC Swimming on the 2024 Southern Zone Age Group Championship Team in Midland, TX. 2 swimmers were invited to the Age Group Select Camp in Charleston. Zoee Palmer broke the South Carolina Swimming State Record for the 11-12 girls’ 50 backstroke in November with an incredible time of 27.63. She also set new team records in both the 50 backstroke and the 200 backstroke. YMCA:
  • 46 swimmers competed at the CYSL Spring Championships in Anderson while 8 swimmers competed at the CYSL Summer Championships in Summerville.
  • In the spring of 2024, Foothills Area YMCA Swim Team had 11 athletes compete at the short course US Regional YMCA Championships and three swimmers at YMCA Short Course Nationals.
  • In the summer of 2024, FAY added another 8 athletes at the long course USRY Championships and three at the YMCA Long Course Nationals.
High School Swimming:
  • Chelsea Burkhart swam to her third straight state championship title for Walhalla High School in 500 freestyle, while finishing 2nd in the 200 free.
  • Jay Owens took 2nd in the 100 back, and was part of the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays for DW Daniel High School.
  • Mary Greene finished in 3rd place in the 500 freestyle, while she, Ellie Russell, and Bailey Choi were part of DW Daniel’s 3rd place finishing 400 free relay.
  • Lots of other top 10 finishes for the other FAY swimmers from Walhalla, Seneca, and Daniel High School swimmers.
We couldn’t be more proud of our swimmers. Here’s to another fantastic year!

SDOC Program and Volunteers

December 2024

A huge THANK YOU to our incredible SDOC Safety & Survival Swimming Program volunteers! Your dedication, generosity, and enthusiasm are the heart and soul of this program. Every year, all third graders in the School District of Oconee County - SC visit the Foothills Area YMCA to learn essential self-rescue skills and basic water safety. We also have the pleasure of welcoming special education classes from all three Oconee County middle schools. This program wouldn't be possible without our amazing volunteers—thank you for making it such a success!

Soccer & T-Ball

In 2024, our youth sports programs continued to grow, providing kids with opportunities to stay active, build skills, and have fun! We had an amazing 167 young athletes participate in soccer, developing teamwork and sportsmanship on the field. Our 27 t-ball players learned the fundamentals of the game while enjoying a season full of excitement. Thank you to all our players, coaches, and families for making this a fantastic year for youth sports at the Y!

Bluefin Success in the Pool & Open Water

2024 Death Valley Open Water – June 17, 2024 A huge shoutout to our 14 Bluefin swimmers who represented us at the 2024 Death Valley Open Water event! Special congratulations to Dean Dial, Jay Owens, Alex Burkhart, Davis Dial, Chelsea Burkhart, AnnMarie Hudak, Audrey Burkhart, and Lana Crain for earning the prestigious Anna C. Sams Award by completing all four events (5K, 3K, 1K, and 0.5K). Way to go, Bluefins!

Zoee Palmer's Outstanding State Championship Performance – Feb. 22, 2024 Congratulations to Zoee Palmer on an incredible showing at the USA Short Course State Championships! Zoee claimed state titles in the 11-13 50 Back, 100 Back, and 100 IM while also securing a second-place finish in the 50 Free and third-place finishes in the 100 Free, 200 Back, and 50 Fly. Her 50 Back time ranks 28th in the nation among 11-12 girls! Amazing job, Zoee!

We’re so proud of all our Bluefin swimmers for their dedication and achievements—keep making waves!