David Weeks has been a constant figure in the Carrollton Bluefins identity and growth for more than two decades now as a competitive swim team and staple as one of the marquee swim programs throughout the Southeast.

And that goes the same for the 23rd Annual Fall Classic, which takes place Friday through Sunday at the Lakeshore Natatorium, where 14 teams will take part in the largest meet the longtime Bluefins coach will play host to all year.

“It started when I did,” Weeks said. “Over the years it has turned into a U.S.A. swim meet and a rather large one. We have 470 swimmers entered in the swim meet and over the weekend we will have 2,882 swims.

“Even in the winter championship meets and the summer meets, this is the biggest one we host.”

The events begin at 6 p.m. Friday with the medium-distance swims, including the 400-yard IM and 500-yard freestyle, among others.

The meet will kick back into gear Saturday morning at 8:30 with the second session and will have a one-hour break before the afternoon competition begins. Sunday’s schedule will be the same as Saturday’s format with another 8:30 a.m. start.

Weeks said most of the teams competing will stay in Carrollton throughout the weekend, making for a full weekend of swimming.

“We’re excited about it and we’re still swimming in a six-lane pool, which limits our swimmers a little bit, but hopefully by next year we’ll have eight lanes and be able to accommodate even more,” Weeks said. “But we look at it as a big weekend, so it makes for a long weekend and a lot of swimming.”

The Bluefins will be the largest team competing with 128 swimmers participating, while Chattahoochee Gold, one of the largest swim teams in the United States, based out of Marietta, will bring the second most with 74.

Some of the other teams competing will be the City of Atlanta Dolphins, the Douglas County Stingrays, the Macon Waves, Rockdale County, Troup County, Warner Robbins and the West Georgia Swim Club.

“They’ll be some fast swimming,” Weeks said. “Several kids looking for college scholarships will be here this weekend and they’ll be some fast swimming going on. Hopefully, we’ll have a lot of team records broken.”

Weeks normally uses this meet to gauge how his team is shaping up at this time of year.

“The Bluefins fare pretty well,” Weeks said. “We’ll find out in the middle of the fall how our depth is doing and how we’re training. It’s a lot of medium swims. So we’ll find out where we stand there.”