BARRHEAD - It is the little club that could.
That is what Barrhead Swim Club swimmers continue to show to themselves and the greater northern Alberta swimming community.
The Barrhead Swim Club is a competitive club boasting 35 members ranging from seven to 17 years old. It is the club's sixth season since rebooting after rebooting following the construction of the new aquatics centre.
On Jan. 20 and 21, the club competed in the Edmonton Keyano Blue Bears Swim Meet at the Kinsmen Sport Centre, recording 34 personal best times.
"Our swimmers took 148.52 seconds or about two and half minutes off their previous best times, which is amazing," head coach Kylee Meunier said.
She added that one of their swimmers, Kyler Demski, 13, qualified for provincial championship trials in the 50-metre freestyle event.
Meunier said this is in addition to the swimmers who qualified for the Winter Festival, the provincial championship for girls 10 and under and boys 11 and under. Qualifying for the Winter Festival were Aria Ellwein, Sloan Wierenga, Kate Fitzpatrick, and Paige VanGelder.
"To qualify, swimmers must meet a provincial standard," she explained.
A week later, on Jan. 27 and 28, the girls competed at the Winter Festivals in Sherwood Park.
"We are all super proud of them," she said. "To have four girls qualify for the Winter Festival is amazing, and then to have them swim like they did was just something to see."
Meunier added that Ellwein, Wierenga, Fitzpatrick and VanGelder shaved off a combined 126.47 seconds or just over two minutes and recorded 20 personal best times.
"When you think about it, that is a lot of time in a sport where results are measured in a hundredth of a second," she said.
As for what is next for the club, Meunier said their swimmers are preparing for a Red Deer swim meet on Feb. 10 and 11.
