The scene poolside at the Madison All-City Swim Meet looks more like Halloween than a swimming competition.

Mimes, Oompa Loompas, Super Mario and SpongeBob SquarePants roam the sidelines at the West Side Swim Club, cheering swimmers on.

While this group of characters might look like super fans, they are in fact the coaches of each team.

Every year, team coaches choose three costumes, one for each day of the meet. For both coaches and swimmers, it's a way to add a little more fun  to  the three-day event.

"We just love to get dressed up. It's something fun for the kids to see," said Erik Gulbrandsen, who coaches Shorewood and was sporting a mime costume. "We don't tell them what we're going to do, so it's always a surprise. They love seeing it."

"The kids love it," added Liz Grace, one of Maple Bluff's Oompa Loompas. "They were asking us all week, 'What are you going to be?' Even the parents are like, 'Can you just tell us? Our kids aren't swimming Thursday.' "

Most of the coaches took part in the All-City meet as swimmers and have memories of their former coaches getting dressed up. Now that it's their turn, they go all out.

"All the teams try and outdo each other with their costumes," Gulbrandsen said. "Obviously, we won today. I mean, look at us — We're all mimes, and we're still the loudest group of coaches there is."

But there's more to coaching than just the costumes.

"We remember back when we were children, you've seen all the coaches and you're looking up to them," said Joey Bridwell, a West Side Swim Club coach who came dressed as a piece from the Tetris video game and has been a swimmer for 15 years.

"So we're trying to give back to the community really that you grew up in."

And for the coaches, having their hard work — and the work of their swimmers — pay off is what it's all about.

"I always loved seeing kids improve and have them come up to me and say, 'Oh my gosh, I did this. Thank you,' " said Whitney Walden of Nakoma. "Or having parents say, 'My kids loved having you as a coach.' It feels really rewarding."