The Golden Dolphins swim season is wrapping up this week, with the team making quite the splash in the pool in their first season back in almost two years.
The 18-month gap between seasons and the ongoing pandemic created challenges for the team, but swimmers were up for the task, according to co-head coach Bradley Crocker.
“It took our swimmers some extra time to remember some technical skills after such a long period out of the pool” said Crocker.
“They showed us that they were very willing to put in the time and effort needed to re-learn and improve their swimming”.
The club sent swimmers to three competitions, with over 200 personal best times and 16 club records set this year.
Notably, 14-year-old Roxy Coatesworth now holds six out of seven Dolphins club records in her age group, and remains undefeated in that age group at all competitions this season.
Another standout performer is 17-year-old Emme Abbs, who has set the club record in the 100-meter butterfly twice this season, while also coaching younger swimmers on the team.
A majority of the Dolphin’s success came in Golden’s own pool, where the Dolphins hosted five other regional swim teams for the Okanagan’s first in-person competition at the end of July.
Over half of the best times nad club records set this seasons were seen at the Dolphins home meet.
The Dolphins also hit the road and travelled to Kamloops from Aug. 7-8, where swimmers had the opportunity to race against eight other teams from across B.C.
In addition to allowing more experienced swimmers to race again, these competitions also saw many new swimmers race for the first time. Dolphins swimmers as young as 5 years old competed in the 25m ‘turtle races’, where they get to try one length of a stroke and receive a small prize regardless of result.
“Early in the summer we weren’t even sure if competitions could happen this year,” explained co-head coach Savannah King.
“We felt very lucky to get the chance to compete against some other great clubs from our region.”
The Golden Dolphins 2021 season wraps up next week with a time trial, fun swim, and awards night. The Golden Dolphins Swim Club connects swimmers, families and community in a supportive challenge-by-choice environment.
