While the 麻豆社国产Pirates don鈥檛 dive into competition until summer, they kicked off training this fall with a little friendly competition.
The team held a mini-meet on Nov. 10 as a way to prepare for the coming year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just really a chance for the kids to prove what they鈥檝e done,鈥� said club president D鈥橝rcy Lorimer.
The mini-meet marked the first major get-together of the fall for the team. It also provided the swimmers a chance to time themselves and establish a baseline from which to work. Next month, they plan on holding another one so they can compare times and keep working on its competitive edge.
The Pirates are a summer team that competes from May through August, but they train starting in the fall. The team includes swimmers between the ages of five and 20, although much of the team falls in the seven-to-10 age range.
As swimmers gain experience, they can eventually focus on particular categories when it comes to competing, but they must start by learning the four competitive strokes: freestyle (front crawl), breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly.
鈥淎ll the kids learn all the strokes. That鈥檚 fundamental to swimming,鈥� Lorimer said.
The Pirates have grown to almost 100 swimmers this season.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got 97 registered and I would say at least 85 are here,鈥� Lorimer said at the mini-meet.听
鈥淲e are thrilled with what鈥檚 happened this year.鈥�
The Pirates in one form or another have been around for more than 40 years. 鈥淭he name Pirates came about during the 1990s,鈥� Lorimer added. 鈥淭he club鈥檚 been going strong ever since.鈥�
However, the president said the recent growth has a lot to do with increasing the profile of the club in the community, especially in the hiring of former Pirate Kelly Kaye as head coach. She had been working with the 麻豆社国产SwimFaster group for two years.
鈥淪he brought a lot of swimmers with her. She has also helped build the club.鈥�
In addition to swimming, Kaye also competed as a snowboarder in Europe, and she brings a lot of coaching experience.
鈥淪he coached at the national level and has taken kids to the nationals,鈥� Lorimer said.
The Pirates hold practices Tuesdays and Thursdays, but with more swimmers joining, the club is adding practice times on Saturdays and Sundays.
Competitions start in May, and the club will host its big meet at the end of that month. Last time, approximately 350 took part.
The club belongs to Vancouver鈥檚 district, and the invitational event attracted swimmers from White Rock, Burnaby and Langley.
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During the summer season, meets are held each weekend until regional finals in early August and provincials a couple of weeks later. For more information, visit www.squamishpirates.com.
