Swim Team

Think summer's a time for relaxing? Think again.Little sister's swim team practice begins in 15 minutes; brother's soccer camp starts at 10:15 a.m. Big sister can't be late for computer camp; the library plans a special event this afternoon; and the videos have to be returned before dad can take the family fishing, as he promised.With schedules that include camps, clinics and classes for every imaginable interest or requirement, parents are ready to define those "lazy, hazy days" as just plain "crazy days" of summer.

By today, the dust and debris covering the Columbia Swim Center's floors and one of its two swimming pools should be cleaned up, and the ceiling tiles should be put back into place in time for the newly renovated center's reopening. Closed since late May, all areas of the center - except for the main pool - are scheduled to reopen today with practically new everything as part of a $2.7 million renovation. "Almost everything you'll see now has a new finish on it," said Frank Standafer, project manger for the Columbia Association.

VERY SOON, YOU'LL be wondering how last year's swimsuit shrank after a winter of lying dormant in the drawer. Country Club Estates Recreation Association is accepting registration for the swim season, and it is offering a discount for early sign-ups. Facilities include a 25-meter, six-lane pool used for general swimming as well as for practice and meets by the association's swim team. An adjacent kiddie pool with benches and an awning is enclosed by a fence. Children can play on the gym set or in the sandbox, while youths and adults enjoy volleyball or horseshoes.

C Columbia has a potential Olympic ice skater! Tiffany Mead, who attends Owen Brown Middle School, skated in the summer program at Ice Castle International Training Center, Lake Arrowhead, Calif.Two hundred and fifty-eight skaters representing 31 states and 10 countries trained at this year's program.Michelle Kwan, Stephanie Stiegler and Lance Travis were among the California center's skaters who competed at last week's Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. The coaching staff, headed by Olympic coach Frank Carroll, includes skating legends Irina Rodnina and Carlo Fassi.

HAMPSTEAD TOWN Hall Gallery features an exhibit of 25 works by 22 artists, students of Barbara Schnell. The show runs through October and is open daily and during evenings when the Town Council meets.Schnell is a Hampstead artist who has taught aspiring artists of all ages in her home studio.A pastel drawing of peonies by Schnell is included in the exhibit. Nearby is a charcoal drawing by the youngest student in the show, Elizabeth Penn Wuorinen, 8, who rendered a duck and a bottle in charcoal.

Sarah Chmielewski Lifeguard Lifeguard White Marsh/Fullerton Family YMCA Age: 19 Years in business: This is her fifth season. Salary: She makes between $9 and $12 an hour for duties as a lifeguard, teacher and coach. How she started: She used to go with a friend to the White Marsh/Fullerton Family YMCA to swim. She also swam on its swim team as well as the one at her high school, the Polytechnic Institute, in Baltimore. "I was always interested in the water. I've always been a swimmer.

"Candy!" shouted the children as they rushed to the sides of the road and eagerly gathered wrapped sweets off the ground that were tossed from floats during the eighth Independence Day parade in Clarksville. Local residents packed the grassy areas off Great Star Drive in River Hill villageWednesday morning with lawn chairs and blankets to cheer the parade participants, who handed out freebies to the excited crowd, some of whom came with bags to hold all the goodies.

Writing may be a silent art, but last week communicating got a little too quiet.From a mild sore throat, I developed a major case of laryngitis. After 24 hours of unpleasant silence, the doctor ordered me not to speak for the next three days. Whispering was also a no-no.My vocally challenged condition brought congratulations from our male neighbors, who wanted to know how my husband had arranged this pleasant interlude.The impairment took my writing to a new level: lengthy explanations written on tiny note pads.

PEACEKEEPING forces in the Balkans have at least one former Southeast Carroll resident as a member: Marine 1st Lt. Ryan E. Dunham.Dunham is stationed aboard the amphibious assault ship and Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) flagship USS Kearsarge, which has Norfolk, Va., as its home port.Sailors from Dunham's ship airlifted Marines and equipment into Macedonia, where they joined the U.S. contingent of NATO's multinational peacekeeping force in Kosovo and supplied humanitarian aid to ethnic Albanian refugees.

WHEN SWIMMERS leave their starting blocks at the National Senior Olympic Games next October at the Walt Disney Wide World of Sports in Florida, central county will be well represented.Nancy Brown, coach of the SPY Masters Maryland Swim Team and a nationally ranked swimmer, will head a contingent of 11 qualifiers to the event. The team has been swimming every day at the Community Center at Woods.The SPY Masters swimmers are Betsy Chambers, Wila Hillman, Carolou Hurlbert, Yu-Jin Lee, Ken Pollock, Tom Powers and Elizabeth Taylor of Arnold, Connie Frappaola of Millersville, and Rand Vaillancourt and Frances Weston of Pasadena.