MOSES LAKE – The Manta Rays saw a peak in swimmers competing at last weekend’s Sizzlin’ Summer Splash in Moses Lake, with 525 swimmers coming in from the Pacific Northwest and beyond for the three-day meet.

“This was the 15th Sizzlin’ Summer swim meet that I’ve been the meet director for, and this was the largest number of swimmers by far that we’ve ever had,” Manta Rays President Steve Washburn said. “Last year was the most we’ve had, and we had 450.”

The growth in the event had been the result of reaching out to teams from around the Pacific Northwest and into Canada, Washburn said.

“It was just reaching out to teams all over the place,” he said. “I’ve built relationships with a lot of teams from Canada all across the border above Idaho, Montana and Washington. Just building relationships, and then we’ve held successful events. Most of the teams that we ended up unfortunately turning away are teams that haven’t been here before, but have heard at other meets in their region that our meet is so awesome.”

The meet was held from Friday through Sunday at the Surf ‘n Slide Water Park in Moses Lake, using the park’s competition pool for the 25 events. Swimmers competed in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke swims as well as different relays across the three-day span.

“We have time restrictions with the city, we only get that pool until 4:00 on Saturday and Sunday then we have to tear down and get out,” Washburn said. “If we were to be able to host that meet a full three days in a row, we could easily bring in 700 athletes.”

Thirty-five of the swimmers at last weekend’s meet were Manta Ray swimmers, with the others being teams coming into Moses Lake for the meet.

“We’re picking up steam,” Washburn said. “COVID hit us pretty hard, and it didn’t give us the ability to grow our team during that period. Every four years, most swim teams have a spike in membership because everybody wants to be Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky. If you’re in an Olympic year, your numbers go way up. We missed that during COVID.

Those swimmers range in age from eight years old to college-aged athletes.

“It’s fun to have (the collegiate swimmers) home for the summer and see how their training’s gone a little different in college versus swimming club team,” Washburn said.

The Manta Rays are a year-long program that begins its season in September and lasts through July. The fall and winter sports are what is known as short course seasons, where swimmers compete in indoor pools on 25-meter lanes. Once long course season begins around April or May, swimmers move up to 50-meter outdoor pools. The Sizzlin’ Summer Splash was the Manta Ray’s home outdoor meet.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

“It’s the (most fun) meet – it’s outdoors, you get to see a lot of people. I’ve made a lot of friends from Canadian teams, Westside teams, teams from out of state and it’s just awesome that group of people get together that one time of year,” Washburn said.

Though Washburn wasn’t sure of the exact year, he believes this is around the 60th year that the organization has hosted the Sizzlin’ Summer Splash.

“We’ve been hosting that meet for a long time,” Washburn said.

Ian Bivona recently celebrated a year with the Columbia Basin Herald. Find more of his work on the Columbia Basin Herald app.