A Lasting Labor of Love

A makeshift quilt hung from the wall, t-shirts stretched taut and stitched together. On the table below: A pair of photo albums filled with snapshots of swimmers from teams past.

Two decades of Lasers lore was retold on Saturday, revived in the mementos and embodied by the close-knit throng of families that gathered at Lake Marion pool to reflect on the 20 years since the team first surfaced.

Dozens of Lasers young and old, still buzzing from the morning’s narrow win in their final home meet of the summer, pored over the keepsakes, reflecting on a span during which the team has sewn itself into their community’s fabric.

East Village’s first families were only beginning to move into the newly built neighborhoods in the early 1990s, and looking for ways to connect and reach out.

With five other swim teams already thriving in Montgomery Village, a trio of moms—Cornelia Pierre, Anne-Marie Clements and Abbie McCormick—set out to give East Village one of its own. They recruited their neighbors and coordinated the dozens of volunteers needed to run a team in the Montgomery County Swim League, one of the oldest in the country.

David Cline was among the first recruits after he moved to East Village in 1992, convinced by one of his new neighbors that joining the swim team was the best way to meet people.

All three of his children went through, the youngest of whom graduated seven years ago. His children found instant camaraderie, while he forged lasting relationships helping supporting cheering the Lasers on for more than a decade.

“I’ve made friends I’ve known for 20 years,” he said. “It’s a focal point socially. In it’s own way, it’s that ideal of the old-fashioned community center. The swim team embodies that.”

It was and continues to be an all-volunteer effort as dozens of parents every Saturday morning set up each meet, keep times, tally scores and the countless other tasks it takes to make things run smoothly.

Looking back at the early mornings over the past twenty summers, team rep Roberta McIntyre remembers more the rewards of that labor rather than its burdens—a role she’s still playing even though it’s been three years since her son Ian graduated from the team.

“Most of the kids who’ve grown up here in East Village have been on this team at one point or another,” she said. “Nostalgia is part of it. Part of it is I really like the kids, I really like the friends I’ve made here. People tell me, ‘Are you crazy?’ But I really love watching these kids that I’ve known since they were little improve and mature.”