Mitch Calvert
The local Cyclone swim club held its first big social event of the season Saturday—hosting a pumpkin-carving event and “Monster Mash” dance-off at the Memorial Sports Centre pool, along with some swimming, of course.
Lindsay Wilson carved up the best jack o’ lantern, with the word “Boo” inscribed in the mouth, while Jonelle Haas took second with her pumpkin that ended up dressed as a witch.
Third place went to Julie Quast for her pumpkin adorned with screws and nails sticking out of it.
The club has eight-10 more social events planned throughout the winter.
“We’re a club that encourages the participation in the swimming, but it’s also about belonging to a club and that this is ‘my special thing’ feeling,” Cyclone head coach Debbie Murray said.
“We’re always working on those social skills, having them interact with people in a group and getting out of their comfort zone, and that transfers over.
“It’s a big part of our program—teaching the kids positive life skills, and along with the swimming because it is a life skill, too,” Murray noted.
There currently are 35 members in the club, which Murray said is growing each week.
“Our competitive end is not huge, but we do have that core group of swimmers who enjoy competing and we’ll have seven going to Kenora for the next meet there [in mid-November],” she added.
The broad range in ages (from six-17) means catering to a variety of skill levels and personalities.
“The goal is having fun definitely, but we obviously want to improve their swimming,” Murray remarked.
“Our parent participation is phenomenal and later on after Christmas, the kids will be putting on a mock mini-meet so not only will they get a chance to swim and participate, but they’ll get a chance to turn it around and have the parents participate and the kids will run things and officiate,” she added.
“I can’t say enough about the group of parents that we have.”
The club meets three times a week and while the parents are a big help to maintain the program, Murray also was quick to acknowledge the help of her coaches—notably long-time assistant Ashley Barker.
“She’s been my right arm and a fantastic part of this program since Day 1,” Murray enthused. “We have two younger girls helping coach this year as well, Jennifer Spence and Jessica Cousineau, and the kids love them.
“They interact well with that age group.”
