(Enlarge) Long Reach Marlins' coach Kevin Bulgarelli cheers during a game with his team at a Monday practice, which is game day, at Kendall Ridge pool. Bulgarelli is in his first season as head coach of the Marlins and is the only parent coach in the 14-team Columbia Neighborhood Swim League. (staff photo by Nicole Martyn)

It's Monday, and for the Long Reach Marlins, that means it's game day.

After completing a 20-minute warm-up swim, the older kids get to play water polo -- deck chairs serving as goals on opposite ends of the pool -- and the younger kids compete in a rousing game of musical chairs using kick boards. It's still practice, it's just not the traditional back-and-forth lap work.

"I don't come every day, but I always try to make Mondays," said 15-year-old Andrew Douglas, who's been on the Marlins' summer swim team for four years. "Coach Kevin always lets us do something different on game day."

In actuality first-year head coach Kevin Bulgarelli, who spends most of practice in the water himself, may be the biggest kid of them all.

And it's his fun-loving attitude, including participating in a cannonball contest after a recent meet with Harper's Choice, which has made the 35-year-old father of three an immediate favorite among parents and swimmers alike.

"I'm still one of them at heart and, like the kids, I'm out here to have fun," Bulgarelli said. "There are times where we buckle down and work real hard, but if they're not enjoying themselves then we're missing the mark."

"Considering (that) swimming isn't a seasonal sport anymore, the summer team should be the kids' chance to let loose and have a little fun. And being a parent, Kevin seems to understand that," added team manager Trish Watt, who is in her second year in the position and has two children on the Marlins.

Bulgarelli, who works for LasikPlus, took over the coaching duties this summer for Kristen Smith, who had been at the helm for the Marlins for nearly five years. He brought with him nearly a dozen years of coaching experience, including several with the Columbia Clippers, and another 25 years of competitive swimming experience.

Despite being the only parent in a head coaching capacity this summer among the 14 Columbia Neighborhood Swim League teams, Bulgarelli arrived with more than a few ideas on how to keep things interesting.

There's been a trip to Six Flags as a team, kids coach their parents day, and plenty of other pool games like "sharks and minnows" and "the blob." The coaching staff, which also includes rising Long Reach high school seniors Kelsey Smith and Steven LaGow, has also purchased an underwater camera to take pictures and video to be posted on the team's Web site.

"I want the kids to go online, see themselves having a blast, and then be excited to come out the next day to be a part of it again," Bulgarelli said.

Bulgarelli has even added some extra intrigue to the Marlins' annual overnight swimming fundraiser event scheduled for Saturday, July 12.

Like in the past, swimmers will be taking pledges and then completing laps to raise money for charity, which this year will be FISH of Howard County. The twist, however, is that the more laps a swimmer does, the greater chance they will have of winning the Nintendo Wii that Bulgarelli recently purchased to be raffled off at breakfast Sunday morning.

"I did 40 (laps) last year and 50 the year before, but this year I'm trying for 200," said 8-year-old Craig Patton, whose mother, Diane, is another one of the team managers. "I'm going to swim until I can't swim anymore. I need to because everyone else is going to do the same thing."

The Swim Mania event actually ties in perfectly with Bulgarelli's theme this year of "every stroke matters." Whether it's a stroke for charity or a stroke during a Saturday meet, he says his main goal is to try and get the most out of everyone.

"He's changing things up, adding his own twist to things and I think you need that every now and then," LaGow said. "I think everyone on the team wakes up in the morning and comes to the pool excited to swim. It's the summer ... That's the way it should be."

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