ORONO – For age-group swimmers, this time of year is either heaven or something like torture.

It’s constant competition – high school states were a month ago, last weekend swimmers were at the YMCA state championship meet or a U.S. Swimming Eastern Sectional meet.

Next weekend some swimmers head to New England YMCA championships, others have practice for the Maine Eastern Zone team. Some are tapering for YMCA nationals, or junior and senior nationals. One team is tapering for the YWCA nationals.

This weekend swimmers competed in what is traditionally one of the most competitive meets in the state. For the past four days more than 600 swimmers participated in the 2002 Winter Combined Championships at the University of Maine’s Wallace Pool.

The Westbrook Seals captured the overall team championship, scoring 3,935 points thanks to second-place finishes from the Seals’ boys and girls team (the two scores are combined to get the overall score).

Long Reach Swim Club of Bath was second with 3,467 points and Coastal Maine Aquatics of Cape Elizabeth was third with 3,3201/2.

The Bangor YMCA Barracudas were fourth and Hurricane Swim Club, which swims out of the Bangor YWCA, was fifth. The MDI Sharks finished sixth overall.

In addition to the team championship, the top eight point-scorers in each age group received a trophy. Swimmers with the top two times in each race will comprise Maine’s team for the Eastern Zone championship meet April 4-6.

Places 1-16 in both individual and relays were scored.

Some swimmers were shaved, rested and tapered for this meet. MDI’s strategy was to keep things pretty much the same for morning practices but go a bit easier in the evening.

“[MDI Sharks coach Jim Willis] makes the nights a little easier, but they don’t get too easy because we don’t want to go too slow,” said Jamie Garver, a junior at MDI High School who qualified for the zone team in the 50 and the 100 free and 100 and 200 backstroke and had a personal best in the 1,000 free.

“It gets tiring, especially with school and other sports starting up and all the meets,” she added. “Three or four meets in a row and it gets tiring. But it’s OK by the end of the year.”

The Hurricanes take a different route this time of year. They had plenty of top times and qualifiers for the zone team, but they have their eyes on the YWCA national championships in North Carolina.

“We tapered for sectionals [last weekend] and this meet,” said Hurricane Kallie Pottle, 14. “It was very hard. I just tell myself to go out there and do my best, do what I can do, don’t push myself.”

Pottle racked up best times in the mile (1,650), 1,000 and 500 freestyles, 100 and 200 back, and 100 fly and had the sixth-highest point total in the girls’ 13-14 group.

Mike Rubin, who swims for the Barracudas, qualified for the zone team in the 200 free as a 14-year-old, but he won’t be able to compete because he turns 15 before the meet starts.

This weekend he swam the mile, 1,000, 500, 200 and 100 frees as well as 100 butterfly and three relays, and saw some great results despite the current run of meets.

“We went from high school tapering to Y tapering, and that’s kind of tiring,” said Rubin, who was a freshman on the Bangor High team that won a Class A state title in February. “Actually, my times were best in this meet than they were at my high school states, so I was surprised. I dropped five seconds in my 500 [free].”

Several swimmers who compete for local YMCA or club teams placed high in the top-8 point scorers.

Julia Kurzius, who swims for the Tsunami Wave of the Piscataquis YMCA in Dover-Foxcroft, was first among the 10-and-under girls, with Bangor YMCA’s Jessica Hodgdon in second. Erin Thomas of the Barracudas was fifth in the 11-12 girls’ group. Hurricane Kiki O’Donnell was second in the girls’ 15-and-over group and her teammate Chausey Ashey was fifth in the girls’ 13-14.

Andrew Guinther of Camden’s Penobscot Bay YMCA team was third in the boys’ 10-and-under. Canoe City’s Jacob Shanley was fifth in the boys’ 13-14. Tyler Bowen of Penobscot Bay won the boys’ 11-12 (Downeast Family YMCA of Ellsworth’s Justin Gilmartin was fifth).