AUBURN - There will be no shortage of marine life in Auburn next weekend, when the YMCA Stingrays host the Central New York District Swim Championships.

Hundreds of swimmers and their families will be commuting from nearby cities like Cortland, Fulton and Skaneateles next weekend, but we will also be seeing a few visitors from Oneonta or Watertown likely loitering about downtown or asking for direction to the Days Inn.

About 500 children will comprise the seven teams competing next weekend in the district championships, but the home team has the advantage of a 16-meet winning streak. The Stingrays are undefeated this season, and are fresh off of a win Saturday over Fulton, 9-1, in their last dual meet of the season.

"The kids are getting a lot faster," Stingray President Dan Salemi said. "I think the last time we went to Fulton, we beat them 6-4. The closest (score) we've had all season is 6-4; everybody else, we've pretty much beat them pretty good."

All of the swimmers in next week's meet are between the ages of five and 18, and will be competing in 10 different divisions. No Stingray individual competition group, be it A boys or C girls, has had an undefeated season, but as a whole the Stingrays have been unstoppable this year.

Most of the Auburn team have swum together for at least a year or two, but there or a few fresh faces, like Dan and Jason Galka. The identical twins have been members of the Auburn High School swim team for four years, but have only been Stingrays for a matter of months.

"Everybody's worked hard and that's why we've done well," Dan Galka said.

"It's a real good team, and I think we'll do pretty well," added Jason.

Seventeen-year-old Eric Stevens has been a member of the YMCA swim team for the past three seasons, and David Desotell is a seventh-year Stingray. Both boys lift weights in the morning and swim about 10 miles a day, and say dedication is what makes the Auburn team winners.

"We have depth in every event," said Desotell. "We are very well-rounded. We don't have any really big stars, but everybody contributes their part.

"We have a couple people who in their events are really good, but can also do other events and come in second and third, which is just as good as first. If we take second, third and fourth, but another team takes first, we still win that event."

One of the goals of each Stingray at the start of the season is to make nationals, and this year only one member of the Auburn team, 16-year-old Jordan Kilmer, qualified.

"I'm pretty exicited about it," Kilmer said. "I've never been down there (Ft. Lauderdale) before, and I don't know how fast the other swimmers are and what their standards are. I'll just try to do my best."

Catie Swartz, 17, has never made it to nationals, but has one more season to qualify. She is not intimidated by any of the other six teams competing in the states next weekend, but does want to outswim any other Stingray in the pool.

"We feed off each other," Swartz said. "It's more about (achieving) personal best than anything else."

Auburn coach Jennifer Walter doesn't have much to worry about at this point, and the fate of the Stingray squad is entirely in their own fins. The Boys A (15-18) team is "pretty strong," she says, and her A girls are undefeated.

"We have a pretty strong team this year," Walter said. "Cortland is one of the better teams to beat. We've beaten them twice this season, though."

The Stingrays' season ends next week with the District Championships, but they will be selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at Walmart March 28 to raise money for Kilmer's trip to Florida for the nationals.