Many rivers begin smooth and unassuming, only to flow faster and become powerful as they progress.

Like its mascot’s namesake, the same can be said for the Reeves Rapids swim team, which enters its fourth summer swim season with the flow of support and participation increasing.

Coaches Bob Dowdy and Jan Taylor resurrected the swim team program at Reeves Community Center in Mount Airy four years ago because the duo saw a need and decided to fill it with their own time.

So far the preliminary portion of the 2009 season has seen the largest turnout in the new program’s short history, with 80 swimmers between the ages of 5 to 18 signing up to compete in the Blue Ridge Swim League.

The Rapids are just beginning to have participants who have been in the program a number of years and are improving and growing into stronger swimmers, with kids who started at the age of 10 now reaching into the older age brackets and more competitive meets.

Dowdy, who’s daughter is a member of the Rapids, said the purpose of the team is to teach values and traits which can help the kids throughout their lives.

“The purpose is sportsmanship, fun and hopefully to teach them some skills along the way,” Dowdy said. “We just like to build a little family. By the end of the summer we are just one big family and this year it looks like we are going to have a bigger family.”

Dowdy said hopefully with the increase in swimmers 2009 will be one of the most successful seasons the Rapids have had.

“We have been very competitive, but swimming is a numbers sport,” Dowdy said. “If you don’t have the numbers, it’s hard to compete with teams who have 100 swimmers or better. We have historically had 50 to 60 swimmers, last year we had 70 and so far this year we have had 80. We are really hoping for more success this year. We’ve had competitive swimmers in every age group, in every event, we just haven’t had the numbers thus far.”

Cody Raymer, a junior at Mount Airy High School and a member of the swim team, has been swimming with the Rapids since the summer of his freshman year, competing in the 50-meter butterfly and the 50-meter freestyle. Raymer said he enjoys the Rapids family atmosphere and the focus on having fun.

“I like that it’s a lot more relaxed than year round swimming,” Raymer said. “We have a lot more younger swimmers try out every year. Unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of senior swimmers, but we’ll make do.”

Anna Harrison, 13, has been with the Rapids for three years and said she is thinking of trying to swim once she attends Mount Airy High School. Hampton said the best part of the Rapids for her is the ability to have contact with a variety of people, not just those from her team.

“The meets are really fun,” Hampton said as she bobbed up and down on the side of the pool. “You get to meet people from all over our area and compete against them, which is always fun.”

The Rapids compete in the Blue Ridge Swim League which includes the Dobson Dolphins. The Rapids and the Dolphins will face each other twice this summer, with the first meeting taking place July 7 at 5 p.m. in Dobson.