Erin Anding, a member of the Ram's Swimming Club, goes full steam in the 50-yard freestyle sprint. Photo by Andrea Downing A few local swimmers spent last weekend trying to improve their times at the New England Swimming Regional Meet at the Mayers Natatorium in Seekonk, Mass.

Eight islanders swim for the Rams Swimming Club and practice at the University of Rhode Island swimming facility in Kingston. The Rams boast depth in both numbers and ages of the swimmers. The meet in Seekonk was a qualifying meet for the New England Championships and the Rams sent 74 athletes who swam in a combined 500 events.

According to Head Coach Matt Emmert, a USA club team like the Rams differs from a YMCA team in many ways. "Generally there is more travel involved, as most of our meets are in Massachusetts and are an invitational format. We try and get that dual meet atmosphere for the younger kids at the meet we host. Some kids get lost in the crowd at these invitational meets and do better in the high school meets because every point counts." Emmert added that a lot of kids enjoying swimming for both their club and high school teams. "It is more intense as far as training at the Rams mainly because we get more pool time. It is a different environment when they come here and this gives them the confidence to go on to swim in high school."

The Novis family of Jamestown spends a good portion of their winters in the pool as all five of the Novis children swim for the Rams including Austin who is a freshman at Andover Academy, seven yearold Aidan and five year-old Ilse.

Hailey and Keenan Novis will be heading to the New England Championships in North Attleboro this weekend. Seventh-grader Hailey swam last weekend in order to qualify for New Englands in one more event giving her the maximum number of nine entries. Her 100-yeard backstroke time of 1:09.76 in Seekonk gave her the ninth event she had been working for although Hailey's favorite event is the 200-yard backstroke.

Ten year-old Keenan did not swim last weekend because he had already qualified for New Englands in his nine events. He is looking forward to his best event, the 50- yard freestyle at New Englands. "I think I will do well this weekend. There are a lot of good swimmers but I am shooting to be first. My best time is a 29 (seconds) but I want to do a 28." According to Emmert, "Keenan will at least be one of the top three 10 and under boys in New England. And some of the other kids are twice his size - it is fun to watch." This will be Keenan's third appearance at the championship meet.

Other islanders on the Rams include Jessica Rudman, Erin Anding and Victor Lambert. Anding and Lambert are looking forward to the high school state meet next weekend and used the Seekonk meet as sort of a warm-up. "This weekend was a half taper for states." said Lambert referring to the wind down in training intensity prior to the season finale.

Like most of the senior group swimmers on the Rams, Anding and Lambert also swim for their high school teams. In fact, six out of the seven members of the North Kingstown High School boys' swim team also swim for the Rams.

Emmert feels the balance of club and high school swimming is good for the kids and there is no pressure to put the Rams before high school. "We are close with all the high school coaches in South County. Everyone is on the same page and it works out well for the kids."

Emmert is pleased with both Anding and Lambert's seasons. "Victor is swimming great. He is hitting his best times in practice and his 100 back keeps getting better and he keeps hitting those times, it is great." Emmert said "Erin (Anding) has been a great addition to the team and is a great kid all around."

As the Rams season winds down, Anding and Lambert will be warming up this weekend at the high school state championships. According to Emmert, "the fact that the high school states are at URI, gives them the home pool advantage, which is great." Tomorrow we celebrate the birthday of this country's first president. But before becoming president he was a great warrior. And, as a warrior, visited our island in 1781.

We asked the Jamestown Historical Society to tell us about General George Washington's trip to Conanicut Island.

If you had been standing on what is now Narragansett Avenue during the afternoon of March 6, 1781 you would have seen General Washington and his entourage riding horseback from West Ferry to East Ferry.

Conanicut Island figured in his letters as early as December 1775. When on Dec. 10 of that year the British forces stationed in Newport burned Jamestown to the ground destroying most of the buildings between East and West Ferry. At that time, Washington was directing the siege of Boston. In a letter from Cambridge, he condemns "the barbarity" of the action.

From 1776 to 1779, Newport and Jamestown were under British control. Jamestown was deserted except for the occupying British and Hessians and about 20 Tory and Quaker families. Then in July 1780, our French allies with 5,000 troops under the command of Comte de Rochambeau sailed into the bay and established their winter quarters for 1780-1781 in Newport. That March, as he was planning a summer campaign that would involve both American and French forces, General Washington decided to confer personally with the French commanders.

On March 6, General Washington, along with eight officers and aides, arrived at Old South Ferry in Saunderstown and boarded the sail ferry for Jamestown. They landed on the island about 2 p.m. and rode along what is now Narragansett Avenue to East Ferry.

A French barge met the General and his party at East Ferry and carried them to the flagship Duc de Bourgogne. There Rochambeau conferred on Washington the office of "Marshall of France," which had the effect of making him Rochambeau's superior. The two generals then continued on to Newport where Rochambeau hosted a gala dinner and dance in Washington's honor. Undoubtedly some Jamestowners crossed the bay to join in the festivities. In any case, they would have seen the candles that illuminated the fleet in the harbor and every house in Newport - "the town council having voted candles to all who were unable to provide them," as reported in W.L. Watson's "History of Jamestown" (1949). They would also have heard the salute from the French batteries.

Washington and the French leaders met for a week, discussing plans for the upcoming summer. On March 13, Washington left Newport to return to his own headquarters. Washington and Rochambeau would meet again in Wethersfield, Conn., in May to plan an attack on New York and then, with the French fleet, the Virginia Capes campaign that ended at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781.

From Newport, Washington rode north, through Providence, and did not return again to Conanicut Island.

In 1932, according to the Newport Daily News, the state placed guideposts along Narragansett Avenue, from the East to the West Ferry, saying, "George Washington traveled along this highway." The posts had a figure of Washington on horseback. The Jamestown Historical Society would very much like a copy or a photograph of the signs.

*** R.I.P. Bob Healy. A fisherman.

***

The Jamestown Philomenian Library has come to the rescue of us armchair quarterbacks with empty Sunday afternoons on our hands.

We can use those hands on Sundays knitting and rug hooking at the library from 1 to 3 p.m. The sessions are free and open to all levels of expertise. Bring your own needles, yarn and supplies and cheer each other on. Quilts with team logos?

***

Lotsa hugs for Helen DeTour who will be 99 on Monday. Her family and many friends send their congratulations and best wishes.

***

For its first concert of the spring 2008 season, the Jamestown Community Piano Association is teaming up with the URI Music Department.

The association's Rosemary Enright said that Hiroshi Taguchi, the guest artist at the URI Piano Extravaganza, will preview his URI performance with pieces by Liszt, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninoff on Jamestown's own community piano on Sunday, March 2, at 4 p.m. at St. Matthew's church. He will be joined for the Stravinsky by URI professor Manabu Takasawa, who has delighted Jamestown audiences in earlier Community Piano series. Admission is free. Donations accepted.

Enjoy!

***