WESTLOCK — Dozens of swimmers from across the region gathered at the Westlock Aquatic Centre June 3 for the Gators Swim Club’s first swim meet in four years.
The one-day meet, hosted jointly between Westlock and St. Albert, featured heats in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and relays, and welcomed more than 100 swimmers from clubs in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain Whitecourt, St. Albert, Devon, St. Paul and Edmonton — for Westlock swimmers this was their first meet of the year.
“All of our swimmers are very, very excited for this swim meet seeing as it is the first one since before COVID-19,” said Gators head coach Naomi Edwards, who is a former Gator and in her first year as head coach. “There was supposed to be one last year but the Westlock pool had to shut down which was very unfortunate, but we are really thankful that this year we are able to be open and host the swim meet.”
Edwards also noted her excitement for the 2023 season, which began May 1 and runs until mid-August, with the club practising four days a week.
“We have an amazing group of swimmers most of which who are actually brand new swimmers this year,” she said, noting 22 new swimmers and a total of 40 with the club. “We’re really excited to have so many new swimmers and a bunch of our returning swimmers come back this year.”
During the meet, swimmers in the same age bracket and timing bracket raced against each other but the event also serves as a way for swimmers to improve their skills and better their times in a fun, family event, she noted.
“Really it’s less about competing and more so about the experience for a lot of these kids,” she said, adding ribbons for first to 10th place were handed out, as well as ribbons for those who may not have placed but posted personal best times. “We really like to treat it as a way for our swimmers to see it less as a competition and more as a fun event (where they say) I will do better next time.”
Regardless how they finish, Edwards said she hopes swimmers come away with a sense of accomplishment at how well they did. “Swimming is one of the best sports in my opinion because you’re less racing against other people and more so racing against yourself to see your own betterment and improvement.”
