The Estevan Mermaids have been building up their club's membership and abilities in recent years, and that paid off on the weekend at the Sadie Caulder Knight provincial synchronized swimming championship.
Over the two-day event in Regina, the Mermaids laid claim to 21 medals, including 11 gold. Six of those medals came in the provincial stream category.
With 181 swimmers, the event boasted one of the largest groups of participants ever for provincials.
Mermaids head coach Brenda Lyons said preparation was key.
"It was good knowing we were well-trained and the girls were really, really prepared. Everyone left feeling very, very positive. It was a strong showing everywhere."
Among the highlights for Lyons was the performance of the team that won silver at the Saskatchewan Winter Games earlier this year. They performed as a team in the age 13-15 division and captured gold at provincials with a score of 55.1867.
"It was a much higher score than we scored at the Games. We were really happy with how we had done at the Games, but we came back and knew we had more to prove, we knew we could get a higher score and we did. I'm really excited that we're building up to create something fantastic with these kids."
Another highlight for Lyons was the performance of Tracy Irwin and Hannah Whitman. They earned silver in the duet competition, matching their result at the Winter Games. Lyons pointed out that Irwin earned bronze in the age 16-18 figures division and Whitman was right behind her in fourth.
"It was nice to see how closely tied they are now," she said.
Lyons was also happy to see second-year synchro athlete Hannah Mantei win bronze in her age 11-12 solo, along with a sixth-place finish in figures.
"That was really exciting for us to see this kid who'd never done synchronized swimming before two years ago, to be able to get that far in her age group."
Other provincial stream medallists were Kelsey Potoma, who took bronze in the 16-18 solo division, and the duo of Courtney Reetz and Reagan Wall, who were bronze winners in the duet in the 13-15 division.
In addition, Shannon Wanner won gold in a pair of masters events, the free and technical solos in the age 30-39 division.
It was a banner weekend for the Mermaids' recreational swimmers and Lyons expects some of them to make waves in the future.
The recreational swimmers won eight medals in figures. In the 11-12 division, Kaylee Carlson won gold and Broklyne Brady took silver.
There was another one-two finish in the 9-10 division, with Haley Copeland winning and Rebecca Duncan earning silver.
The Mermaids also placed two on the podium in the eight-and-under division, with Chloe Krienke nabbing gold and Sienna Kuntz taking bronze.
Anna Rose Lawrence bagged gold in the 16-18 division, while Brenna Lawrence grabbed silver in the 13-15 age group.
There were also five medals in the recreation solo competition. Estevan captured gold and bronze in the 9-10 team event, while Anna Rose Lawrence (16-18), Brenna Lawrence and Copeland all won gold in their respective age groups.
Lyons said it has been a strong season for the Mermaids, highlighted by their swimmers' performances in Prince Albert.
"It's been a fantastic year. It's not something that's happened overnight. We've been building toward this year for four years. It's been in the plans, how we'd get a large majority of our club on the Games team, and once we had that, what we were going to do. Placing eight out of 10 on that team was a huge reward, and then being able to integrate the two Weyburn swimmers seamlessly into our club was a goal of mine.
"Looking back two years and seeing the change in athleticism in our girls, they're strong physically and strong mentally, and as a coach that's rewarding."
She added that some of the older girls have been mentoring the younger ones and there are likely some strong coaches coming up through the ranks.
"We're going to try to keep pushing the next level of athleticism and commitment and excitement for our club. This was a really big meet, probably the biggest we've had in the province. For our kids to be able to go and be focused and perform at that level, and to have a good time you need to be able to enjoy what you do. We were so prepared, it was easy to have a good time."
