Sharks send seven to provincial championships

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Silver Sharks Swim team found a lot of success in Calgary March 1-3.
The Sharks were led by 15-year-old Megan Mertz, who captured gold in the 100 metre (m) backstroke along with two silver medals in 50 m fly and 50 m freestyle, giving them a ticket to the provincial championships in Edmonton March 15-17.
“Throughout the weekend I had been getting best times (first races) and then going in first and then I’d end up in fifth,” said Mertz. “I’m looking forward to competing against swimmers who are faster than the provincial times.”
Mertz said she loves to compete against strong opponents in the water, battling through a previous knee surgery to compete this season. According to the young swimmer, she’s had to get approval to compete every step of the way but hasn’t been slowed down by it.
Even though swimming is primarily an individual event, it’s the team aspect that helps motivate athletes such as Mertz, especially to push themselves to that next level.
“My teammates are definitely a huge part of it, I love going to practice and having them there,” she said. “It’s nice to have somebody who’s beating me so I can push myself to beat them.”
The Sharks had seven athletes including Mertz qualify to compete at provincial championships, the next level of competition, and the swimmers had to qualify for this by achieving a specific time in their event.
“It’s always exciting to see a whole team of kids go,” said Sharks head coach Jennifer Mertz. “It’s not an easy standard to make.”
According to Jennifer, seven swimmers going to the provincial championships is less than last year’s team, but the club had shaved off 116.8 seconds as a group from their previous year’s times at provincials.
The swimmers put forth a significant amount of training time, sometimes up to five times per week. The club’s hard work is paying off with currently 20 swimmers ranked in the top 50 in at least one event.
“I think it gives them a bit of worth to all of the training and dedication to the sport,” said Jennifer. “It can give them a little bit of a spark that maybe they didn’t qualify for provincial championships, but they are on target.”
According to Jennifer, part of the Sharks philosophy is just because Strathmore is a small town doesn’t mean you can’t aim to be the best. It’s this mentality that has helped push swimmers like Jennifer’s daughter Megan.
The Sharks are about halfway through their season that ends in July, but try-outs are in May. Up next for the Sharks swimmers is the provincial championships in Edmonton March 15-17.