Sunnybrook Swim Club in Moorestown hosted the seventh annual 2024 Jack Hafner Invitational Championship Swim Meet on July 27 to raise funds for the renovation of a place special to residents.
“I would definitely have to say (it’s) the positive atmosphere that everybody brings, from the board of governors to the lifeguards to even the younger members,” said head pool manager Matt Frascarelli, in his first year with the club, of what makes Sunnybrook stand out.
“They all have welcomed me with open arms, and it’s honestly a special feeling that these people appreciate how much I’m willing to do for them.”
Sunnybrook has operated as a nonprofit swim club since 1955, and is owned and managed by its members through bonded and rental memberships, according to the club’s website. It offers youth competitive swim and dive teams, a playground, waterslide and club- operated snack bar. There are two large pools and a kiddie pool, as well as a Wiffle ball field and a basketball court.
Recent club enhancements include adding a pickleball court and GaGa Pit. Sunnybrook is shaded by mature trees and nestled in a quiet neighborhood off Devon Road.
Club head coach Jamie Bowne grew up within the tri-county swimming community, spending years from youth to high-school graduation at Woodstream Swim Club. She also swam at Cherokee High School, GPAC (Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club) and the Jersey Wahoos. Bowne is now a coach for all age groups on the Eastern Express Swim Team and a lifeguarding instructor at Middle Atlantic Safety Training.
She also continues to swim in graduate school, competing mostly in the 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM and 200 free. She enjoys teaching swimmers at Sunnybrook, and while she noted that the sport is competitive, she likes to see the students having fun.
“The kids, I think, really enjoy it, and just a lot of them, they get the most out of each and every summer,” she noted. “Each kid is different, so they might each get something different out of it, which turns out to be a really great experience for all of them.”
The Hafner Meet welcomed youth swimmers from nine clubs (Sunnybrook, Deer Brook, Pomona, Pheasant Run, Woodstream, Tenby Chase, Woodbine, Stratford and Riverton) in the South Jersey area, including Burlington and Camden counties, and drew a large and diverse audience of nearly 2,000 swimmers, families and community members.
It’s now an event that Sunnybrook’s swimmers look forward to every year.
“ … We’re pretty competitive with a lot of the teams within Burlington County, so going into it, we work hard throughout the season,” Bowne explained. “We put the work in and then leading up to the meet, it’s a lot of focus on our techniques, really getting down our starts and turns … We’ll allow them to rest so that they’re ready to go in prepared to swim for that weekend.
” … It always means a lot to the kids when they’re invited to come swim at this meet,” she added, “and I think it means even more to them this year, too, with it being at Sunnybrook … I think it was a really, really special event this year, in particular just to see our club come together as one family and get this event going.”
Jack Hafner was a tri-county rep for close to 20 years. A member of the Pomona Swim Club, he was the referee for Pomona’s home swim meets and numerous Burlington County championships. Hafner was also a deck official at Jersey Wahoos swim meets and the Tri-County Championships.
Shortly after his sudden death in 2001, nine swim clubs throughout Burlington County unanimously decided to rename the county’s championship meet after Hafner. The meet was renamed the Jack Hafner Burlington County Championships in 2002. Additional swim teams were added to the competition in 2017, and it became known as the Jack Hafner Invitational.
“It’s the top swimmer from each age group in their respective events, so in terms of importance, it’s a really important meet for the kids, because they get to be highlighted as the best swimmer in that event and represent their team in this championship-style meet,” said meet director Jeremy Minarcik.
“It’s an invitational meet, both for teams and swimmers, and so it is, for the kids, I think, a really important and fun meet.”
Meet leader Alex Strauss is also the president of Sunnybrook’s board of governors and has been involved with the club for about eight years. From his perspective, swimming is one of the few sports where coaches and leaders get to see younger kids and older kids interact and be together. The Jack Hafner meet was a day of excitement, but also a two-fold event.
“It’s really an exciting time for the kids and their families and for everyone to be able to really enjoy the swimming, and it also happens to be probably one of the biggest fundraisers for the pool clubs that we have,” Strauss pointed out. “The hope also is that the money raised from this big Jack Hafner Swim Meet will help to support Sunnybrook and its growth and development going forward.
“There are always things to build and maintain and renovate and we, like everyone else, have a lot of things that we could improve on.”
Rosemary Hess, swim committee chair and member of the club’s board of governors, has been a member of Sunnybrook for about eight years. Sunnybrook had 250 kids on the swim and dive teams this summer who got to meet others their age, but from different schools.
Hess loved to see that, but the Jack Hafner meet was the top-tier event that gave the club an extra shine.
“It’s a club for everybody,” Hess said. “We love our swim team and our dive team … I think what makes it special is that it is largely Moorestown members, and so it’s a really good way to meet people in our direct Moorestown community.”
For more information on the Sunnybrook Swim Club, visit www.sunnybrookswimclub.org.
