Ymca

Name: Bradley Peters Job description: Howard County YMCA aquatics director and coach of its swim team, the Manta Rays, a full-time job for the past three years; has been at Y for five years. Swim team, an eight-month "winter" program, has 127 swimmers from 5 to 18. Club began in 1978, and later founded Central Maryland Swim League, which has grown to 16 teams competing in team-oriented meets from September to April and covers much of Maryland. Club, which dropped from 220 swimmers in the early 1990s to 44 in middle of the decade, has been rebuilding.

For many years, the Carroll County YMCA Piranhas youth swim team wasa small group of wanderers with no home pool and almost no victoriesto call its own.But another era begins this fall when the squad moves into its new YMCA building, which is quickly nearing completion.As the old era recedes, indications are the new one will be bright.The team's membership has risen to 104 from last year's 78.Meanwhile, swimmers' times are coming down, at least partially because of the increased amount of practice available at the Western Maryland College pool, where the team is based.

Earth Day celebrants at Carroll Community College last weekend had to imagine a nature trail as they hiked through a field, woods and crossed a stream.But before Earth Day 1998, they'll be able to see the trail.A committee has been working since 1993 to build a hiking, jogging and nature appreciation trail that will run from the Carroll County YMCA south of Westminster north to Westminster High School. The committee includes representatives from the community college, Robert Moton Elementary School, the YMCA and county government.

WESTMINSTER -- The Carroll County Family YMCA is spreading its wings and moving into its first real home here.After about 30 years crammed in at various locations in the city, the organization will open the doors of its new Sykesville Road facility at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow."

THE CRAMPED Howard County YMCA in Ellicott City is going to try again to double in size, hoping for more than a little help from a recent zoning change and the vision and deep financial pockets of land developers. Troy Weaver, executive director of the YMCA on Montgomery Road, has notified members by letter that the Y's board of managers is asking developers to propose ways of developing part - or even all - of the institution's 12.5 acres. In an interview, Weaver said that ideas have been solicited from about 70 developers operating primarily in Howard County, as well as nearby parts of Baltimore County.

Lee Halfpenny, a local boxing legend who taught generations of Baltimore boys the pugilistic arts at the YMCA, died of a heart attack Wednesday night at Keswick nursing home.He was 87 and had Alzheimer's disease for more than a dozen years."He dearly loved being with kids, he loved teaching them to box and swim," said the former Norma Ege, Mr. Halfpenny's wife of 50 years. "He just loved it when the ones he had taught came back to visit him after they had grown up."Mr. Halfpenny, a Hall of Fame boxer who fought his way out of Locust Point to become the amateur lightweight champion of the world between 1928 and 1931, was best known for his long association with the Central YMCA at Franklin and Cathedral streets.

The Severna Park YMCA successfully defended its team title at last month's YMCA Masters National Swimming Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.SPY was represented in the four-day event by 63 swimmers, all of whom played some part in capturing the men's and women's titles, as well as the overall crown with 2,149.5 points."What was nice about this year was that everybody on the team scored points and everyone came away with a medal," said SPY swimmer/head coach Nancy Brown. "Everyone swam well, and they all gave that extra effort that we needed to beat the host team."

The Howard County YMCA will hold three members-only meetings next week to discuss plans for its Montgomery Road property, which could include selling part of the land for development as a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, a YMCA official said yesterday. In the fall, the YMCA said it was exploring a sale of 4 acres of its 11-acre property to developer J. Chris Pippen to help fund construction of a state-of-the-art facility on the remaining land. At that point, the YMCA and Pippen said they were considering several possible uses for the land to be sold.

Faced with skyrocketing suburban land prices and crowded schools, Howard County's Board of Education has crafted an unusual partnership to get land for a badly needed new school in Ellicott City. The school board has finalized a deal with YMCA of Central Maryland and the VFW Post No. 7472 to secure enough land for a northeastern elementary school after two years of on-and-off negotiations, officials announced yesterday. The arduous process - which almost broke down last fall - underscores the challenge faced by the school system in finding suitable land for new schools in rapidly growing Howard County, especially in the northeast where land is scarce and expensive.

For six years, Richard Hammond has worked out at the Howard County YMCA four to five times a week, putting up with older equipment and a crowded facility. "The air conditioning works off and on, and this place is getting more and more members. After January 1st, when everyone decides to get in shape for the year, this place gets packed," Hammond said. By spring, however, his patience will be rewarded. Targeting a March 2008 completion date, the YMCA is constructing a 36,000-square-foot facility that will more than double the size of the "Y."