It is all about moving forward as swimmers and as an organization.
That is how Barrhead Swim Club (BRC) head coach Charlene Assenheimer characterized an informal March 2 “fun meet” where 45 swimmers ages six to 17 tried to improve on their personal best times.
And for the most part, they were successful.
“We really did have a lot of kids who either beat or came close to their best times of the season, and really as a coach, you can’t ask for more,” she said.
Assenheimer added it also gave participants a chance to broaden their horizons in more ways than on the timing board.
BRC is divided into a competitive stream for those swimmers who regularly compete in swim meets and a non-competitive those who take part in the activity for other reasons.
“[Non-competitive] is a great opportunity for them to see if competing is something they would like to do, and for the kids in the competitive program, it gave them a chance to showcase their leadership skills by modelling,” she said.
Originally the swim club had planned that the meet would be a Swim Alberta sanctioned meet, but unfortunately, they couldn’t meet the requirements.
Which is perhaps, a good thing, because on the technical side there were a few glitches.
Most notably, the club’s Dolphin computer timing system failed, which as a result meant they had to go to “Plan B” -— manual stop-watches.
“It was good. At every swim meet, there are these little glitches that organizers have to deal with and it gave us the chance to see how good our contingency plan is,” Assenheimer said.
“And the good news is that everything went well and the swimmers all had a good time.”
One of the highlights for Assenheimer was at the end of the meet, as they were able to add a 200-metre freestyle relay race, which the coaches won.
As for what the rest of the season holds, she said the competitive group is preparing for its final meet of the season, the Fast Eddy on April 6 - 7 hosted by the Penguin Swimming Club at MacEwan University, before wrapping up the season April 11.
“It’s been a good season,” she said. “There were challenges, but after coming back from such a long period of inactivity that is too be expected.”
Assenheimer noted that changes in Swim Alberta regulations also made it more difficult to operate a competitive program.
The BRC was forced to take a four-year hiatus after the old aquatic centre closed its doors due to health and safety considerations in February 2014.
“In order to have a sanctioned meet, you have to have a number of trained volunteers, and that can be difficult,” Assenheimer said.
Finding those type of volunteers has been difficult because many of the volunteers who were certified, either moved away, or let their certification lapse.
“Which is why I can’t thank our parent volunteers enough. They have done so much and without them, there really wouldn’t be a swim club,” she said, adding next year they’lll need one more volunteer as Assenheimer is retiring from coaching at the end of this season.
