Teams from throughout the state competed in a variety of race sessions in the third annual Ryan Patterson Memorial Swim Meet on Jan. 26.
More than a competition, the event is a fundraiser that benefits the YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy Annual Support Campaign, the Ryan Patterson Memorial Scholarship and the Metuchen-Edison YMCA (MEY) swim team. The all-day event, held at Raritan Bay YMCA in Perth Amboy, memorializes former coach and swimmer Ryan Marie Patterson.
Begun as an intersquad meet two years ago, the event has grown to be a USA-sanctioned meet. Complete with the national anthem sung by an MEY swimmer, the meet is now the team’s main fundraising event.
Patterson was 27 years old when she passed away in October
2011. Born in Edison, she was a lifelong Metuchen resident.
A swim coach to children ever since she was a teen, Patterson continued to volunteer her time, helping youngsters during her college years.
Six months prior to her death, she had moved to New York to follow her calling in social work upon receiving her master’s degree from Fordham University.