WEYBURN - The Oxbow Seawolves summer speed swimming club had an outstanding showing at the recent provincial meet in Weyburn.
The Seawolves finished with 319 points, which left them first for the smaller clubs in the province. A club that had fewer than 20 swimmers at provincials is considered to be small.
They had 17 members for this year, so coach Corey Purves said it’s impressive they had 14 qualify for provincials.
Purves noted that among the female swimmers, they were ranked seventh out of 19 clubs, while the males were 14th.
“This is one of our best years yet,” she said.
Two members of the club reached the podium for high points in their age group. Jordan Macfarlane finished second overall for 13 and 14 boys, while Kendall Sorestad was second for seven and eight girls.
Members of the club worked hard this year, she said, and spent more time training than normal from the moment they entered the pool this season. Swimmers practised Monday to Thursday during the lunch hour, and for an hour in the evenings.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvement between all of the kids. They all dropped lots of time, and they got way fewer disqualifications in all of the races,” said Purves.
Purves noted interest in the club has been about the same the past few years. They have had a number of swimmers drop out of the club the past couple of years, but they also had some new kids this year.
The club held an official meet for the first time in a number of years on July 10. Their current pool opened in 2019 and they couldn’t have a sanctioned meet until this year. They did have a fun meet last summer.
“We learned a lot from it, and from everyone, all of the other clubs,” Purves said. “But it was nice to have it in our own town and have lots of people around Oxbow come and watch … and see what other people are doing.”
Purves is the only member of the club who is graduating, and she hopes to be involved with the club in some capacity next year.
