by Coach Sharon Burns
Sylvan Lake Nauticals have completed their short course season.
This was our busiest season ever! All of our swimmers had a great season.
In Copper young swimmers learn basic skills from doing floats to sculling to kick. Paige Laitila and Merrick Smith started out not taking their feet off the bottom and can now swim short distances on their own. Alexa LaBelle is a leader who helps others in this group with their skills. Kelsey Jones, Kate Hamilton, Ryann Clark and Solomon Fullerton are gaining confidence in all skills. Isabelle Fraser, Kamryn Girard and Liam Ewanchuk are swimming stronger every day and graduating from Copper are Celeste Gareau, Silas Price and Pierce Smith.
In Bronze, swimmers must be able to swim a length of the pool and we work on basic strokes and endurance. Wylee Gareau and Zachary Brayden-Morris have just joined us and are doing well with the group. Julia Turner, Theodore Rutherford, Carson Monroe, Jaykeb Bouvette, Grayslyn Bouvette and Myles Bidinger-Badger have all increased their strength and skill. Joshua St Germain, Chase Laitila, Travis Lorenze, Eve Smith and Isabella Pritchard are all starting to gain skill in each stroke.
Graduating from Bronze are Brielle Siminot, Connor Langford, Breanna Westin, Jake Serhan, Sophie Ewanchuk and Breckyn Lagoutte.
In Silver, swimmers start to learn the basics of training and many have started to compete. Rachel Young, Max Prior, Hailey Nixon, Sydney Nixon, Issac Bahler, Blake Carson, Sarah DeGannes, Capri Fraser and Trinity Brown are improving all their strokes and Owen Prior can really race. Paris Oullette, Crystal Monroe, Sarah McClelland, Taylor Lunde, Brayden Lukash, Megan Luchak, Gracie Langford, Sam Jones, Nicholas Moore and Eban England are getting stronger in their basic skills and gaining confidence.
Graduating from Silver are Justin St. Germain, Allyne Siminot, Mackenzie Siemens, Chloe Snyder, Claire Weberg, Taylor Pangcracs, Jayna Keast, Keira Carde, Kyla Bancroft-Engen, Parker Bouvette, Shelby-Lynn Battenfelder and Molly Cocks.
Gold is a level in which swimmers start to train more seriously. Eden Price just achieved a ‘B’ time and a meet qualifying time and attended her first provincial trials. Jordon Smith, Justice Fancie, Kora-Lynn Juneau and Kristin Sandberg are all working hard and close to their goals. Cole Matthews really enjoys swimming and competing. Tyler Brayden-Morris and Leightan Yablonski are mastering the drills used to improve their strokes. Not as easy as it may sound!
Sydney Bouvette, Asha Weaver, Elianna Mulholland and Avery Burger graduated from Gold earlier in the season. Asha, Elianna and Avery all achieved their meet qualifying times shortly after moving on to Platinum.
Platinum has had a really exciting season. Elizabeth Moore is the first Sylvan Lake Nautical training under Coach Trevor Burns to achieve an Age Group National qualifying time, allowing her to compete in Montreal this summer. Chase Murdoch is the first Sylvan Lake Nautical under Coach Trevor to achieve a Western National time and attended the Western National meet in Saskatoon earlier this year. Amber Carson just achieved her Western National time recently at provincials. Michael Carson just earned his first ‘A’ qualifying time at provincial trials and Emily Girard and Zoe DeJonge earned their first ‘B’ times and meet qualifying times. Ann Duffy has been training hard to achieve her goals and is a leader among the group. Lexi Sparrow is also training hard to reach her goals. Kacey Joseph has been improving her training intensity this year. Tatum Lavallee and Taylor Nixon trained in a strong and consistent way. Sven VanWijk is working at refining his strokes. Mellissa Bancroft-Engen and Alicia Daniels are recent additions to our team. They are training hard to be ready for competition.
Coaches Sharon and Trevor would like to thank assistant coaches Brooke Kentz and Kim Matthews for their commitment and help and assistant coaches Pam Moore and Tracy Carson for filling in when needed, all of our board members who commit much time and energy to keep this club a growing success and, of course, all the families who support their athletes in their sport.
Remember, “win the practice, to win the game!”