"Swimming draws a certain personality," she says.

Besides being extremely organized, swimmers, like good students, have to manage their time efficiently and make a long-term commitment, she says.

The swim club, known commonly as "the SUNNs," is comprised of more than 100 such students.

Not only have the SUNNs made a strong commitment to the sport, but that commitment has paid off. The 115 members of the club, who range in age from 4 to 17, have demonstrated that dedication and hard work can be rewarding.

For the third consecutive year, the SUNNs have won the Silicon Valley Swim League Championship, participating in both the short course (25 yards) and the long course (50 meters) events.

"We belong to a very competitive zone—the Club 1 North, which spans the area from Monterey to Napa—with around 30 teams," Fisher-Colbrie says. "And there are many varieties of swim meets; almost every weekend or every other weekend."

The club, which was first established in the 1960s and is sponsored by the city's department of parks and recreation, is divided into different groups based on ages: the Sunshine group, ages 6 and under; the Seals, ages 7­8; the Blue group, for the faster 7- and 8-year-olds; the Gold group, ages 9­10; Gold Elite, ages 11­12; Junior Varsity, ages 13­14; Senior development team, ages 13­14; and Seniors, ages 14­17.

Karta Khalsa, a 15-year-old sophomore at Homestead High School, has been a member of the swim club for seven years. He says he loves to compete with the team.

Whereas most club members are Sunnyvale residents, several live in neighboring cities.

Adam Pluemer, a junior at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, has been a member the longest—nine years. Having joined the club when he was in a Sunnyvale elementary school, Pluemer stayed with the club even after his family moved out of town because he liked it so much.

"It's been a really good experience," he says.

Besides the health benefits, Adam, 15, says for him it's just "a lot of fun hanging out with people on the team."

However, his mother, Joelle Pluemer, feels that more than anything else, competitive swimming is extremely beneficial to students because it "organizes them."

Although her son has a lot of schoolwork, he manages to get it done because his demanding training schedule at the pool forces him to manage his time efficiently, she says.

Another parent, Jill Lee, agrees with Joelle.

"My kids are very organized," Jill says. "I have four kids on the team—three girls and a boy."

A swimmer herself, Jill says her encouragement notwithstanding, all her kids wanted to join the team, however tough it might be.

Morgan, her 11-year-old daughter, is a sixth-grader at the King's Academy in Sunnyvale. After joining the team four years ago, Morgan, like her siblings, is very conscientious when it comes to completing her schoolwork. She starts working on her homework before leaving for swim practice and finishes it after dinner, even if she has to stay up late, Jill says. The family has always encouraged the four kids to complete all their homework every day and maintain their grades in school, Jill says.

But it's not just the parents who feel that way—the coaches also share parents' concerns about the kids keeping up with schoolwork.

Mike Jufiar has coached the club for eight years. Besides making sure his swimmers stay afloat in school, Jufiar also drills them in the water. Primarily concentrating on the senior group, Jufiar personally supervises the training and practice sessions at both the Fremont High School pool and the Sunnyvale Middle School pool.

What he looks for in his swimmers are stroke technique and endurance—two of the most important assets in competitive swimming. His job is to ensure that the group masters four different strokes—butterfly, back, breast and freestyle—that will enable them to do well in competition. Stamina is another crucial trait for swimmers, he says.

"These swimmers swim 5,000 to 7,000 yards every single day," he says. "And for those who also practice in the mornings, it's almost 10,000 yards a day."

In order to ensure the swimmers develop their endurance in the water, Jufiar encourages his swimmers to participate in a comprehensive exercise program every day that involves both swimming and some exercise on land.

Richard Cruzen is in his second year of coaching the club. After 25 years of competitive swimming, Cruzen decided coaching would be a "natural progression" for him. Prior to joining the club, he had an eight-year coaching position that included being assistant and head coach for a summer league team.

"I work well with kids and am looking at getting my teaching credentials for a day job," he says.

Cruzen works mostly with the junior group in the Fremont pool but switches to the middle school pool to train for short course events.

The heated pools help the club maintain the program throughout the year, no matter what the weather is like.

"We are the only year-round swim program and the only competitive team in Sunnyvale," Fisher-Colbrie says.

Though swimmers can be no older than 17 to participate in a SUNN swim meet, swimmers older than 17 can participate in masters or other open meets. The monthly membership rates range from $80 to $125, depending on which age group the swimmer is in. There's an additional annual fee of $100 and a registration fee of $35.

A few former club members have returned to compete for the club after they've graduated from high school, she adds.

"However, we offer no lessons," she adds. "We leave that up to the city."

While the city offers swimming lessons through other venues, the club concentrates on training swimmers to be competitive.

In order to stay competitive, club members spend hours training in the water. Practice sessions during the school session are from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Seniors spend an extra 2­3 hours about three mornings a week on their practice and training.

When asked how the swimmers juggle their academic commitments with their rigorous practice schedules at the club, Khalsa responds simply, "I just don't sleep."

Khalsa explains that after he joined the club and started to swim and train, he wanted to keep going.

"It's addictive—I didn't want to stop," he says.

Some parents are not too thrilled about encouraging the competitive spirit in their young kids, according to Amy Kashi, club secretary.

"Some people are afraid of the competitive aspect," Kashi says. "But it's such a healthy, learning experience."

Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose, and the kids need to learn how to deal with both in a balanced way, she adds. With her three boys on the team, it's a "tough balance," she says.

In addition to developing a balanced approach to competition, competitive swimming is simply "a great sport for kids," according to Fisher-Colbrie. A master swimmer herself, she has her two kids on the club team.

"When a kid gets into the water, he or she has to compete on an even footing—whether it's a boy or a girl," she says. "And both boys and girls interact so well with each other."

Fisher-Colbrie adds there are no serious injuries as a result of swimming. On the contrary, swimming has always been known as the most well-rounded form of exercise. People who start swimming at a young age are so hooked on it that they continue with it all their lives, she says.

For more information on the Sunnyvale Swim Club, call the SUNN Hotline at 408.235.9874, email the coach at sunmike@yahoo.com or visit the club's website at www.sunn.org.