The Estevan Golden Eels Swim Club hosted their annual mini-meet on June 3 at the R.M. of Estevan Aquatic Centre, which helped the swimmers gear up for their upcoming competitions.
“This is the first chance to see them compete. We always do sprints during a practice and it kind of looks like the real thing but it’s not the same,” Golden Eels coach Akeela Jundt said.
Only swimmers ages five to 10 competed in the swim meet.
Jundt added, the five and six-year-old members won’t compete during the summer, but this meet gave them a taste of what competitive speed swimming is all about.
Twenty swimmers of ages five to eight and 21 swimmers of ages nine to 10 created an energetic group, some of whom had never swum competitively with the Golden Eels.
Also, the swim meet was meant to familiarize the swimmers with a variety of strokes, but Jundt said it was also meant to prepare them mentally, as well.
“The main focus was … giving them a chance to practice this kind of a set up, so that they aren’t so nervous for the (future) swim meets … and they can do their best, without having to stress about the way a meet works,” she said.
Even though this meet helped the swimmers prepare for competition, Jundt said they still have a lot of work to before the first swim meet.
“We still have a couple of weeks before we actually have competitions, so that’s kind of our last chance to fine-tune the strokes and make sure that everything is ready to go.”
The first swim meet for the Golden Eels is their home meet at the R.M. of Estevan Aquatic Centre on June 27.
