FORT POLK, La. - For 400 meters it was anyone's race as swimmers from the 83rd Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Battalion, the Fort Polk Staff Judge Advocate's Office and Task Force 3, Operations Group, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, battled for Commander's Cup points in the 800-meter squad relay swim May 4.
In the end, the crew from Ops Group outlasted their competition to claim bragging rights as the fastest swim team at Fort Polk for 2011.
Maj. Arthur Jimenez, captain for Ops Group, attributed his team's win to four things: Teamwork, motivation, an international flavor and Capt. Christopher Huber.
"I can't say it was preparation, because all we did was just show up," Jimenez said. "But our teamwork was excellent, we were motivated because we wanted to get a win in something, we had Captain Alexander McDougall of the British Army, and Captain Huber was the man. We were behind for a long time but he made up about 25 meters on his leg."
The winning time for Ops Group was 13:19.
The 83rd CBRNE was second with a time of 14:14, while SJA rounded out the field with a time of 16:23.
First Lt. Carl Clemens, captain of the 83rd CBRNE, said he was pleased with his team's finish - especially that it actually did finish.
"Half of our battalion is out training, so we were just happy we could have some folks here," he said.
Clemens said he enjoyed the competition, but the swimmers need a little more work before next year's event.
"I think it's important that we have friendly competition between units," he said. "But we've got to get better. I think we're going to start a new swim PT program to develop and fine tune our skills before next year."
The SJA team, proving they have a firm understanding of litigation, lodged a complaint before the race began hoping to have the Ops Group team disqualified. Race rules called for teams of eight swimmers with at least one being a female.
Ops Group only had six swimmers and no females. But 1st Lt. Desiree Giangregorio of the 83rd CBRNE made a suggestion that females did not have to swim (effectively keeping her dry) and that two Ops Group swimmers could complete two laps.
With two of the three teams agreeing to the terms, SJA's protest was disallowed and Ops Group claimed the crown.
SJA team captain Master Sgt. Damon Trager said he was optimistic after the race's second lap.
"Then our less strong swimmers entered the pool," he said. "But our effort was really good."
Like Clemens, Trager said the SJA bunch needed to put in a little more pool time before next year.
"We're going to practice three times next year instead of twice," he said.
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