The top youth swimming teams in state will converge on Bowdoin College in Brunswick starting today for 2004 Winter Combined Championships.

The competition, which is held at the school’s Greason Pool, starts at 5 p.m. with the 1,650-yard freestyle for boys and girls in the 13-14 and senior age groups.

Friday’s mornings events start at 8:30 a.m. The second session Friday starts at 5 p.m. The same times hold for Saturday. Sunday morning’s session also starts at 8:30, while the evening swims start at 4:30 p.m.

All events for the 10-and-under and 11-12 swimmers will be timed finals. The 13-14 and senior age groups will swim both time trials and finals.

The top 16 places in relay and individual events will be scored. The top 16 individuals in each event will receive medals (places 1-8) or ribbons (9-16). The top eight team in each relay will be recognized. The eight girls and boys who rack up the most points will earn trophies and team trophies will be awarded to the top two girls teams, boys teams and combined teams.

The top two finishers in each event will qualify for the Eastern Zone meet, which will be held April 1-3 at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

The Winter Combined Championship meet brings together the state’s US Swimming-affiliated teams, most of them private clubs based in southern Maine, and swimmers from YMCA squads who are also members of US Swimming.

Teams such as Coastal Maine Aquatics of Cape Elizabeth, the Westbrook Seals, Portland Porpoises, Seacoast Swim Club of Cumberland and the Hurricane Swim Club of Bangor have traditionally taken the top spots.

Most YMCA teams don’t bring enough swimmers for full participation, but there will be plenty of competitors from local teams. Among those YMCA teams sending swimmers are the Bay Area Swim Club of the Waldo County YMCA in Belfast, the MDI YMCA Sharks, Penobscot Bay of Camden, Tsunami Waves of the Piscataquis Regional YMCA in Dover-Foxcroft, Down East Family YMCA of Ellsworth, Canoe City of the Old Town-Orono YMCA, the Mid Maine Dolphins of the Waterville YMCA, and the Bangor YMCA-YWCA Barracudas.

CMA and Long Reach Swim Club of the Bath YMCA, which won last weekend’s YMCA state championship, are among the favorites.

Long Reach is the defending champion. Westbrook finished second overall last year and CMA was third.

The Hurricanes were fourth last year. The team, which practices at the Husson College pool in Bangor, recently won the girls 8-and-under championship at that age group’s meet in February.

MDI was second in last weekend’s YMCA state meet, and both the MDI boys and girls teams were second in their respectively catagories.

Some of the top YMCA swimmers likely won’t be at the Brunswick meet, however, as they have the YMCA New England regional meet March 19-21 at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Age isn’t a deterrent – MDI YMCA coach Jim Willis, 41, is a listed as a competitor in the distance events. Former University of Maine star Krystal Fogler, 24, is also seeded in several events for the Hurricanes. John Delehanty, now 23 and swimming for Bay Area, helped the Belfast High boys take home a Class B state title in 1999.

Marianne Greenhalgh, a former Ellsworth High standout, competes as a 20-year-old for the Down East Family YMCA team.