Silver Sharks look to teamwork

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Despite the loss of some of last year’s athletes, the Strathmore Silver Sharks swim club is experiencing higher numbers of participants than ever before.
However, there are many swim club members eager to fill the shoes of previous senior athletes, and step up to the diving board and show the new athletes coming on board the ropes.
“I think the kids are really excited,” said head coach Jennifer Mertz. “We had to get pumped and excited for this year knowing that we had lost some of our senior kids. But these kids have just stepped right up and stepped right into those shoes and own those places at the top. We’ve had a big shuffle this year, the year before we had four kids leave the club, last year we had 30 but we’ve replaced all of those kids and we’re at some of our higher numbers yet.”
The swim club now has 98 members, with nine registered in the Minnows program and still three spots available.
Mertz added that all the swimmers being replaced this year boded well for coaches as it allowed them to bump one lane worth of kids into the next group.
The swim club had the privilege of having a contingent of the University of Calgary Dinos swim team come out last Saturday and help the swimmers improve on their skills. Mertz stated a camp like this is beneficial in opening doors for swimmers to build confidence in moving to the next level if they so desire to.
“They’re ready to step up,” said Mertz. “They’re already starting to look forward to the next pieces. And camps like this are amazing opportunities for our kids to see if they’re worthy of that level of swimming, if they want it bad enough. We only train five times a week but if you come to all of those five practices, we can get you ready for university swimming.”
Mertz’s goal is to get the kids to achieve whatever level they desire.
“Our goal is always to bring up their technique,” she said. “Every year, us as coaches, set a team goal for technical pieces of their strokes. Last year we really worked on streamlines. This year we’re continuing with the streamlines and focusing on walls, making sure that our whole team is on the same page with that.”
She added that the club needs more of a fun component to the season to create positive energy surrounding the team.
The team participated in the Canmore Pentathlon on Oct. 24. Madison Laycraft received second place in her age group, Boris Kuljanin got third in his age group and Marina Laycraft was second in her age group.