NILES — Swim coach Maggie Regan said it was an “icing on the cake situation.”

As a sweet ending to a successful season, the Niles-Buchanan YMCA club team season, 10 members have qualified for a state meet.

The Mariners Swim Team will send the squad to the Michigan YMCA State Championship Saturday Feb. 29 and Sunday, March 1 at the Holland Aquatic Center in Holland, Michigan.

There, they will compete against other YMCA swimmers to improve their personal bests and take home medals.

Alyvia Baker, Bailey Bauer, Ginger Hendershott, Lorraine Holtgren, Aiden Martin, Ainsley Martin, Ella Penney, Maddix Roberts, Sidney Smith and Cory Staggs have qualified in a myriad of individual races and a relay. Regan said there are a handful of other individuals seeking the state meet with two qualifying meets to go.

Those 8 and younger on the Mariners Swim Team automatically qualify for their meet Saturday, Feb. 15 at Waterford Kettering High School in Waterford, Michigan.

Regardless of who qualified or not, Regan said she is proud of the way her team of about 35 swimmers has improved this season, and how the Mariners program has developed over her four years as coach.

“We’ve had a lot of kids step up and really make a lot of great improvements this year and show a lot more dedication,” she said. “We’ve grown as a team.”

This year, Regan said she was especially excited to see swimmers make the most of two goals she tries to instill in them: set and work toward personal goals, and to have fun.

For some, that paid off in state qualifications.

Now, the team has entered a more intense part of the season. The goal is to build up yardage and hard swims now to build up strength and endurance. Then, when the state meet draws near, the team can rest and prepare.

As Regan spoke at last Wednesday’s swim practice, the sound of 30 or so swimmers enveloped the Niles-Buchanan YMCA pool. It was occasionally cut by Regan and other coaches shouting interval instructions over the splashes.

Among the interval trainers were state qualifiers Baker, Bauer, Holtgren, Aiden Martin and Roberts. They took a break between warmups to share their thoughts on the season and the future.

Each of them came into the season wanting to qualify for the state meet. To do so, they changed their mindset, focusing on problem areas in their form or performances, and adding intensity to their practices.

Now, they said they felt nervous excitement for the meet at the end of the month — only Baker and Holtgren have competed at the state level before.

But they also said they would treat the state meet like any other this season. They would focus on bettering themselves and supporting teammates, not others.

“It’s knowing that it’s just you in the water,” Martin said of the importance of the meet. “It’s you beating your own self. It’s proving yourself to yourself.”

Roberts said the meet meant giving everything she had.

“I get into a mindset where I keep going,” Baker added. “I feel unstoppable.”

The girls said they could not have gotten to where they were as athletes without Regan, their coach. They said she connects with them on a personal level, tells them to improve, speaks with them about their personal aspirations and treats them as people.

“She’s more than a coach,” Holtgren said. “She’s like your big sister.”

Their compassion for Regan extends to each other, too. They want to see all Mariners, their “family,” succeed, Martin said.

After the state meet, they plan to celebrate as a team, too. They just might stop at their favorite post-race place, Culver’s.