The final scores of a swim meet held at the Penobscot Bay YMCA in Rockport last Saturday weren’t very close- the winning team didn’t have much competition in the water.

But it didn’t matter to any of the youngsters who participated. It was all about fun and a chance to swim against some of the top athletes in the world.

A group of 13 teenagers and two coaches from the Czech Republic who attend a swimming-specific school in the eastern European country were visiting the Camden area recently. Several of the teens went to the Czech Republic’s Olympic trials and came close to qualifying for last month’s summer games in Athens.

The Czech group, which comes from the city of Plzen, was in Maine at the invitation from Caitlyn Coyle, a senior at Camden Hills High School who went to the Czech Republic last year through a Rotary exchange program.

The Czechs have been here for two weeks. The YMCA was set to host a goodbye potluck dinner Thursday night for the kids, who are flying home today.

Wendi Scott, the Penobscot Bay YMCA’s aquatics director, helped organize the meet Saturday. The Czechs swam against a kind of motley collection of Maine swimmers from Bangor and the Camden area – some from the Sailfish, the YMCA’s competitive team, and some local high school swimmers and some college-aged swimmers, including the YMCA’s head lifeguard Jason Amos.

The girls swam against the girls and the boys went up against the boys. The Czechs won both meets, although the scores of the girls meet were much closer, probably because there were more girls swimming for the Maine team, as the locals called themselves.

Scott said the Czechs are used to daily double sessions and up to 10 miles a day. Now that they’re coming down from their national and international seasons they’re swimming about three miles a day.

Contrast that with the top competitive Sailfish swimmers, who swim two to four miles a day during their peak training times.

“[The Czechs] were so good that after a couple of races some of the [Maine swimmers] started to drop out,” Scott said with a laugh. “They have quite a work ethic. Just watching them they’re technically flawless.”

For the record, the Czech girls won 300-275 and the Czech boys won 438-190.

The team’s head coach is Michael Berinek, who teaches physical education and also coaches a club team in Plzen. He is a professional open-water swimmer who races at international events.

While in the Camden area the Czech teens lived with host families. The group didn’t take it easy while in Maine – the Czechs spent some time at the YMCA-owned Camp Jordan in Ellsworth and the YMCA’s state camp in Winthrop, helped conduct a swim clinic at the YMCA, and took a trip to Boston.

The Czechs go to a school that sets students’ schedules around swimming practice and meets. Scott said the Czechs attended a day of classes at Camden Hills High in Rockport and got the feel for a day of high school in the United States.

“They had a ball,” Scott said. “They fit right in. I went to pick them up at noon and they were exhausted.”

Scott said the Czechs have invited some of the Penobscot Bay YMCA swimmers to their country next year.