Improvement the mantra for local Stingrays

BRIDGEPORT – When 8-year-old Kayla Westby finished the 25-meter breaststroke event at the B.R.A.T.S. Swim Meet in Bridgeport on Saturday, the first thing she wanted to know was how fast she went.

Though she won the race by a fair margin, Westby didn't seem as interested in how she did against the others in the pool as much as whether or not she beat her sister Megan's team record.

For about four decades or more, multitudes of Sidney youth have been benefitting from what is now called the Sidney Stingrays swim program. They compete in a league they call "B.R.A.T.S.," which is an acronym for the...