When the Barrhead Swim Club (BSC) went to MacEwan University Feb. 10 and 11 to compete in the Fast Eddie’s Sprint Invitational, hosted by Penguin Swimming, they had three goals — have fun, improve and get their name out there.
Check on all fronts.
Head coach Gerald Jenkins and assistant coach Charlene Assenheimer said they were pleased how the swimmers as a group were progressing.
“For a lot of our swimmers this year is really the first time they have swam competitively, so it takes some time for them just to get used to the atmosphere of a swim meet. It is different from practice. Considering the Fast Eddie was just our second meet I think things went as well as could be expected,” Jenkins said, adding one of the areas he wanted to improve from the last meet is their starts. “It is something we have been working at and it looks like it paid off. We really didn’t have a lot of disqualifications at all.”
Although the coaches did not want to single out anyone a number of BSC members had strong swims. Included in that group were Colby McCarthy and Sydney Miller who finished in the top three in three events. McCarthy and Miller also qualified to swim in the final event, called the ‘Swiminator’.
To qualify for the event they needed to have one of the top six times for each age group from Feb. 10’s 50 metre freestyle race.
“Those six are considered the fastest swimmers because the freestyle is the fastest stroke,” Assenheimer said.
In the Swiminator, each of the six competitors swim one length of the pool, 25 metres using the freestyle technique with the slowest swimmer being eliminated. They continue this process until there are only two left, who then faceoff in one final heat to determine who the fastest swimmer of the meet is.
“After each heat they have to walk back to the other end of the pool and the next race starts immediately,” Assenheimer said. “There is no break. It really is an endurance test.”
Miller and McCarthy finished first and fifth, respectively. Hudson Miller also qualified for the race and finished sixth.
“It was another great learning experience for us and the whole team just did very well,” she said.
However, perhaps the most important thing that happened at the event is that BSC were invited to another swim meet Penguin Swimming is hosting in April.
Assenheimer said as a club that is just starting out sometimes it is difficult to find meets to compete in — at least a meet that has the right environment for a club that has a number of inexperienced competitors.
Earlier in the year, BSC were asked to withdraw from a meet that fit these criteria, because there were too many clubs, which were better known.
“It’s a great sign, that people are starting to know that Barrhead is back on the swim scene,” Jenkins said.
The next event the club is preparing for is a March 18 mock meet in Barrhead. The purpose of the meet Jenkins said, is not only to give their own swimmers more experience, but also the aquatics centre staff and volunteers.
“A swim meet is quite hectic and chaotic and we just want to give everyone a sense of that before we host our own event next year,” he said.
To volunteer for the mock meet contact BSC president Janeen Millar at 780-305-9434.
