Tapping into Greatness: The Lady Legends Headed to Nationals

“Watching them grow. Learning and understanding and realizing that the competition is really intense.”

Emergency Turner Toni Estes has had a front row seat to the evolution of The Lady Legends, Louisville Water’s all-women pipe tapping team. With the exception of Estes, none of the ladies had tapping experience before forming the team in 2024. Two years later, The Lady Legends are headed to their second national competition in just a few weeks.

“I’m excited for them because now they know what to expect,” Estes said with pride as the team captain. “Our times have gotten better. We knocked two minutes off the time from last year!”

As you might imagine, this isn’t a competition where you can just show up and hope to clinch a victory. Tapping into a cement-lined, ductile iron pipe filled with water and then installing a copper service line requires strength, determination, and speed.

“I’d like to knock my time down. That’s the major thing I’ve been focusing on; I’d like to knock my time down,” shared surface repair leader and team cranker, Taya Burrell.

It took some convincing for Burrell to get here.

“I wasn’t going to do this,” she admitted. But persistence paid off.

“Devinn convinced me,” she said.

“I said sign me up! We didn’t even have a team,” said Operations Supervisor Devinn Tytus, the team setter and only non-union member of The Lady Legends.

Emergency Turner Jesse Jewell’s job is to flare the copper pipe. She was one of the first women on board with the idea, and it didn’t take long for everyone to be all-in.

“We’re all super grateful to be able to compete for Louisville Water and I’m super lucky to share this with a great team of ladies,” Jewell said.

With that gratitude also comes a lot of commitment.

Jewell said, “We sacrifice a lot to be able to do this.”

“Saturdays, Sundays, Friday evenings; anytime we can all get together, we’re in here (practicing). It’s a lot of dedication, a lot of work. When people don’t know we’re here, we’re here,” Estes explained.

As they continue stretching their limits, growing both personally and as a team, they’re pushing toward a bigger goal.

“I want to place this time. I’ll even take third,” Tytus said.

“I would like for us to make it to the final round. We’re gonna give it all we got!” Estes said with a smile.

The Lady Legends will compete at the American Water Works Association’s Annual Conference & Expo the week of June 22, followed by the regional competition in late July.