Whitecourt Blue Dolphins Swim Club has the biggest team ever after record tryouts

 

It’s going to be another great season for the Whitecourt Blue Dolphins Swim Club. After a very full Rookie Week from May 1 to 3, the swimmers are now registered and ready to swim their hearts out. On Thursday, May 10 at the AJMC, head coach Alice Boll and several other coaches were walking the children through different exercises in preparation for their first meets of the season.

“Last I heard we had just over 90 swimmers on the team which is the biggest team we’ve ever had! It’s very exciting,” Boll said. She accredits the growth in numbers to the fact that more people are learning about the club and what it means to be a member. Swimmers are not required to attend all events which gives families a little more freedom in the summer. “I just love that the word is getting out that we are a really fun way for kids to get in the water and do some competitions,” she said.

The team is literally jumping in head first with a big swim meet at home coming up on June 9. “It’s so soon in our season but it’s a very exciting time for everyone. It’s a chance for our swimmers to see where they are at.” The weekend prior to the Whitecourt meet the team will have the chance to prepare with a meet in Westlock. “From there it’s nearly every weekend that we are off to meets and it’s a lot of fun.”

The youngest swimmers this year are just four years old and the oldest are actually the coaches. “We signed our coaches up as swimmers and we are hoping to do a Coaches Relay at the Whitecourt meet.” Boll said they are planning the relay as a source of inspiration to show the swimmers that swimming is not something that ends when they are adults and that they can take the love of swimming with them as they grow.

“You can see how quickly they all improve throughout the season and that part is always outstanding. When we are going to meets every weekend and you think, ‘what is four days of training in between going to do’, they go out and beat their times. It’s such a measurement stick to see their process as they go.” The team focuses more on self-improvement and beating their own times. “Only one kid is going to get that gold medal, but every kid can walk away knowing they’ve done the best job they have ever done before and that’s very encouraging,” said Boll.

The Whitecourt Meet on June 9 will start early in the morning at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre. Teams from around the region will be attending including Westlock, Devon, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Hinton, Drayton Valley, and Edmonton teams. “I’m so impressed with what I’ve seen so far this season. In this first week alone, to see the progress from the beginning of the week to now is awesome.”