Three Central Plains Sea Lions qualify for national swim meet

The Central Plains Sea Lions are nearing the end of their season but have one last big event they're preparing for.

Three members of the competitive swimming club will be heading out to Saskatchewan this Thursday for a 'AA' meet. Head coach Rob Gemmel says this competition is invite-only as the three athletes attending all met the time requirements to qualify. He says this is a huge event.

"Clubs are going to come from all over the country. There can be anywhere from 450 to 600 kids at the meet," Gemmel explains. "It's at the Shaw Centre in Saskatoon, which is a really nice facility. It's a fairly fast pool, and it's nice to be able to compete in that."

The Sea Lions' swimmers attending the event are Brett Vachon, Matthew McEwing, and Anika Dyck. Gemmel says this will be the first time Vachon will be competing in a meet of this calibre.

"He missed the first one this year but Brett was able to qualify for this one in a couple of races more recently," Gemmel continues. "With Anika, the last time we did this meet, she was one of the top Manitoban swimmers in her age group, and she was able to compete on the provincial relay team. So, we're hoping she can double up that performance and do it again."

Gemmel says they've been training extremely hard over the last month but tend to slow things down ahead of big competitions like this one to keep the swimmers fresh. He describes what they focus on heading into large-scale events.

"We're working to refine skills. With big meets like this, you can't make major changes to technique, you can only make minor adjustments. If you change technique, it takes about a month to take full effect. So, we're fine-tuning all the little things and keeping the strokes as they are until next year."

The coach says with younger athletes who are still growing, you have to change their stroke fairly often as the body grows in different ways, which can change the effectiveness of a specific technique. While this is a major focus in the early going of many years, once competition time comes around, Gemmel adds its best to stick to what got you there.

The head of the Sea Lions says all the kids are extremely happy to be able to have had a full season, after the COVID-19 obstacles that were thrown their way for the last two years. Dyck, Vachon, and McEwing will be in Saskatoon from July 7 to July 10.