The athletic ability and grace of another season of Estevan Mermaids Synchronized swimming was on display again at their annual water show Saturday night at the Estevan Leisure Centre pool.
Kids ranging from the mini-Mermaid age group to the Masters group entertained a crowd at the pool for their show.
“We train approximately three hours a week, and that’s three hours a week in the pool and they also do some dryland,” said mermaids coach Brenda Lyons. “We start at the beginning of October and we end now. We have one team that continues on to have one more meet for the older (groups) and now we’re done for a few months.”
Lyons had the bronze medal-winning Southeast Connections Saskatchewan Winter Games team – all ages 16 to 18 and provincial streamed - back together for the show.
“They get so excited and intense and they train really hard,” said Lyons, who said it’s been a privilege to bring the teams from Weyburn and Estevan together. “It brings out the best in them and it’s great to see what you can do with ten fantastic athletes.”
When Lyons started at the club, they had a total of six swimmers and the club has grown to now have 80. The club also has competitive groups from ages 10 and under – the Sparkle Stars – and a limited competition group called the Fire Flies. The four youngest groups of mini-Mermaids began the show with demonstrations of what they’ve learned this year.
“It was really incredible to see how much they’ve improved over the year, especially the youngest kids,” Lyons said. “They can barely swim when they come to us. Over the season, you just see the confidence develop and their love of the sport develop.
“We’ve got some very gifted athletes, so there’s going to be good stuff to come.”
The Masters group has some of their performers who have reached retirement age but is still an inspiration to some of the younger performers.
“That’s really important to me,“ Lyons said. “I want our athletes to see that they can do sport for the rest of their lives. They can find what they’re passionate about and they can keep doing it no matter what.”
