More than 500 swimmers and their families will descend on Kenton on July 7-8, for the 41st annual Elks Invitational Swim Meet and Western Ohio Aquatics League (WOAL) Championship. The WOAL meet is for swimmers aged 5-18 who are members of a league team.

The Kenton Municipal Swimming pool is the host site for the even, which will host teams from Ada, Bluffton, Findlay, Kenton, Shawnee Country Club, Wapakoneta, Westside and Van Wert. These eight teams will compete for the 2023 league title.  

Events start at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 7 and will conclude around 2:00 p.m. Day two will start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 8 and conclude around 3:00 p.m. The league champs will be crowned at the end of day two.  

“Swimming is a great sport. Our region is very competitive in swimming. The summer league is a great way to keep current swimmers active and provides a way for new swimmers to give competitive swimming a try,” said Miriam Dulin, Kenton area swim team WOAL pool representative. Each year the championships rotate between Bluffton, Kenton and Wapakoneta pools.  

On Saturday, one female and one male WOAL 2023 high school graduating swimmer will be awarded The Beverly R. Little Memorial Scholarship in recognition of their participation in the WOAL Swim League. The Lima Mayor’s trophy will also be awarded by Kenton Mayor Lynn Webb, to recognize an outstanding individual(s) service to the WOAL.

The event is free and open to the public. Food vendors will include 101 Smokehouse, Kona Ice (Findlay), Mark’s Homemade Ice cream, Circle U Waffle Co., Glazed Over (Kenton), Moore than Just BBQ, Buregers, Fries and More and Kloepfer’s Kitchen.

Local companies and individual sponsors for the WOAL include

Lima Elks #54
The Beverly R. Little Scholarship Fund
Around the Clock
Century 21 Sunway Realty
Diamond M Vet Clinic
Golden Graphics
Graphic Packaging
JTB Tech
Kenton Fire Department
Office Experts
Poco Loco
Precision Strip
Quest FCU
Rogers Insurance Agency