BARRHEAD - There were a lot of happy, but exhausted faces after the Barrhead Swim Club's practice last week.
That’s because, on Thursday, Feb. 25, 14 of its 18 members took part in the club's annual Swim-A-Thon. The event, which is mandatory for Swim Alberta sanctioned clubs, is a fundraiser for both the parent organization and the individual club.
The Swim-A-Thon sees individual swimmers collect pledges to see how many of the 200 laps (the equivalent of five kilometres) they can complete in two hours.
"A lot of our swimmers manage to complete their 200 laps," said club fundraising coordinator Michelle Smith. "It is looking pretty good so far. We should have quite a few swimmers meet the mark."
And she was right. By the end of the night, 11 out of the 15 swimmers met their goals.
Smith said it has been a good year for the club.
In the fall of 2017, the Barrhead Swimming Club returned after a close to three-year hiatus (caused by the closure of the old swimming pool). When they returned, the club initially sported a membership of close to 60 sporting competitive (those who want to compete at swim meets) and non-competitive streams.
However, for the 2019-2020 season, the club decided to focus solely on the competitive stream.
"Of course, because of the pandemic, we had to curtail much of our activities last season," Smith said.
The swim club practiced from September to December before public health restrictions and the subsequent draining of the pool forced them to scrub the rest of the season.
This season saw the club resumed operation in September, competing in its first swim meet in over 20 months in November. They hoped to go to another competition before Christmas, but unfortunately, the meet was cancelled.
Smith added the club usually takes part in another meet in early to mid-March before wrapping up the season with a fun meet where club members compete for bragging rights in an in-house competition in April.
