JEFFERSON TWP — Whether a team has 20 or 120 members, the competition is even and the events are fun.

That's the motto of the A-K Valley Swim Club League and has been for 43 years.

"The numbers from team to team don't matter," said Corrie Jones, league vice president and coach of the Penn Valley team. "Once you're in the pool, everyone's using the same water, the same wall, the same flags. ... It's all about training and learning."

The summer swim league was the brainchild of John Masarik, who formed a five-team circuit involving his Sylvan pool from Natrona Heights, Bouquet from Springdale, Freeport, Leechburg and Vandergrift.

"That's why it was called the A-K Valley League," Masarik said. "The league has since expanded, but the name never changed.

"Country clubs had a swim league back then, so I figured, why not public pools? It wasn't hard to organize it because a number of pools were interested," he added.

The league began with five teams and about 200 swimmers. Now it has 10 teams and nearly 700 swimmers.

Brackenridge Heights, which joined the league this year along with Adams Ridge, has 20 swimmers. EDCO, from Evans City, has 120 swimmers while Butler-based Penn Valley has 114.

Other teams include Alameda (Butler), Belmont (Armstrong County), Bouquet, SEBCO (Saxonburg), Sylvan and Vandergrift.

"Our numbers shot up this year," EDCO coach Rusty Stroup said. "It was an Olympic year and that always heightens interest.

"We probably have 40 8-and-under swimmers on our team. The key is to keep them around for a few years."

The league features age group categories from 8-under to 15-to-17. Swimmers as young as 4 have joined. Individual events are contested in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Relays are medley and freestyle.

SEBCO, coached by Alex Fertelmes, had 80 swimmers this season.

"A lot of kids try it and they leave after two or three years," Fertelmes said. "Others begin when they're 6 and stay with it until they're 17.

"The YMCA programs are more serious competition. With this league, you're still competing and you learn to be a better swimmer. That's what the summer program is good for."

Fertelmes, 28, swam for Knoch High before the school had a team. As the Knights' program has grown, SEBCO has benefited.

"We have a lot more older kids on our team now than ever before," he said. "That's a correlation to the growth of the high school program."

Alameda coach Hans Bergh, only 19 and the youngest head coach in the league, is a 2008 Butler graduate and was an Alameda swimmer only two years ago.

"I was a competitive swimmer for nine years," Bergh said. "I believe in the sport and this league. When they offered me the job, I jumped on it.

"I have a bad shoulder from a swimming injury, so I had to give up competing. I missed it. I needed my chlorine fix."

Bergh is in his second year as head coach at Alameda.

"This is a good developmental league for swimming," he said. "My coaches and myself still get in the water with the kids and demonstrate things."

Sportsmanship plays a big role as well.

"I've got certain rules our kids have to follow," Jones said. "They stay in the water until all swimmers are finished and they shake hands. They're respectful of all timers and adults at meets."

Success can mix with sportsmanship. Penn Valley's 12-and-under boys 200-yard medley relay team of Nathan Callithen, Chadd Cummings, Max Merhaut and Reed McDonough swam that event in 2 minutes, 15.31 seconds at the league championships Saturday, snapping a SEBCO Pool record of 2:15.38 that stood for nine years.

The top three swimmers from each team in each event advanced to the meet, held Saturday at Laura Doerr Park.

"A lot of swimming events are about individuals," Stroup said. "Our league is a team thing. That makes it fun for the older kids, who have been going to individual-based meets for years."