Heat Masters Team Supports Heat Age Group National Team
The Heat Masters Swim Team, a program of the Stephens Family YCMA’s Heat Swim, is the adult organized swim team of the Stephens Family YMCA’s Heat Swim Team. Masters swimmers are ages 18 and older and come together with the shared interest in swimming for fitness, competition, and camaraderie. The Heat Masters Swim Team practices at the Stephens Family YMCA under the guidance of Tina Johnson, a Level III US Masters Swim Coach. With over 35 members, the Heat Masters Swim Team often competes in swim meets both locally and nationally, as well as hosts their own swim meets throughout the year.
Once a year, when the Heat Masters Swim Team hosts a home meet, members of the Heat age group team (swimmers under the age of 18 years) attend the meet to time the swimmers as part of their fundraiser to attend the YMCA National Swim Meet which takes place annually in April. 60 Masters swimmers participated in this year's home meet, one of the largest turnouts in many years.
Heat's 2025 National team is one of the largest Heat National Teams in recent years. Nearly 20 swimmers from the age group team have qualified to compete at the National Swim Meet this April in Greensboro, North Carolina.
"Participation at the YMCA's highest swimming competition is a very high achievement,” said Heat Head Coach Will Barker. “It comes with a great amount of work and some major financial commitments from those families. We appreciate the Masters Swim team assisting with their journey to high level swimming."
Since 2015, the Heat Masters Swim Team has donated nearly $10,000 of their home meet revenue (profit from swimmer registration to participate in the meet) to the National Team. This year, the Heat Masters Swim Team presented a check for $1,743 to the Heat National Team, marking the largest singular donation made from the adult team to the age group team. During the swim meet, the adult and age group swimmers gathered around a celebratory check for a photo.
"The HEAT Master's team has been giving proceeds from our meets to the HEAT age group team for many years,” shared Heat Masters Coach Tina Johnson. “Age group swimming helps promote leadership skills, time management skills, and develop the mind body connection. It is our honor to promote our passion for swimming to younger swimmers, and to support them attending national swim meet competitions during their time in age group swimming."
Champaign County HEAT is a year-round competitive swim team based out of the Stephens Family YMCA in Champaign, Illinois. At HEAT, we provide every athlete an opportunity to improve swimming skills and achieve success through high-quality, professional coaching for all ages and abilities.
