With the holiday season now out of the way and practice having been a way of life over the past few weeks, both local swim teams are ready to start swimming with a purpose again.
Both the Fort Frances Aquanauts and Cyclones are primed and ready for the regional championship this weekend at the Memorial Sports Centre, where roughly 250 swimmers are expected to compete in the three-day meet beginning Friday.
“Our swimmers have had a nice break, and have returned ready and rested to go,” said Cyclones’ head coach Debbie Murray, who will have eight team members take to the pool this weekend.
“They’re going to perform extremely well,” she added. “I am positive that they will see the progress they’ve made to this point of the year, and will earn the respect of the other competitors.”
Since the Cyclones came into existence last season, Murray said the team’s development has been overwhelming.
“They’ve increased their talent and technical ability 100-fold,” she enthused. “They work well together, and are a team in all senses of the word. They’ll show that this weekend.
“This is a grassroots team,” Murray added. “If that theme is carried into the future, good things are going to happen. And the support of the parents is a big reason our team is doing so well—and will continue to do so.”
Aquanauts’ head coach Roman Ramirez will enter a 33-member entourage into the regionals, with two of them in particular hoping to repeat their impressive feats from last year’s event.
Rachel Dutton tied for the points championship in the age 11-12 division while Alex Parent broke three provincial records in the Swimmers With A Disability (SWAD) category.
“I expect the performances from our team will be better than last year,” said Ramirez. “I would like to see records fall, but it’s tough to tell right now.
“Lots of teams are coming in prepared to win. Our swimmers have to take this meet really seriously,” he warned.
Ramirez has been impressed by the jump in both physical and psychological conditioning on his team’s part, and doesn’t think the extended break since their last meet in early December will have much of a negative impact.
“I don’t think it will affect us,” he remarked. “It was a good break for them and they’re looking very strong in practice.”
This weekend’s meet here also gives the faster Aquanauts a perfect opportunity to clinch berths in the higher-calibre meets yet to come this season, such as the provincial championships.
But in the end, Ramirez wants to see his team at least retain its third-place showing behind the Thunder Bay Thunderbolts and Kenora Swimming Sharks from last year.
“We don’t have the bodies to fill out a team like the others,” explained Ramirez. “Because of that, we lose points to them in the relay events and others.
“But we want to be closer to them points-wise than we were last year,” he added.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
