There are a number of Estevan Golden Eels swimmers who now have their first meet under their belts after Monday at the RM of Estevan Aquatic Centre.
The Eels first mini meet took place Monday and will help the kids get used to the concept of meets, from how and where to be ready for your next event to the group timing aspects for parents and volunteers.
“It’s really unique to get the little ones, the 7-, 8-year-olds who have never swam at a meet before, with the 9-and 10-year-olds just to refresh their memories, and what the buzzers mean and when they should get into the water,” said Melanie Dzeryk, publicity director for the Eels. “It’s just a lot of fun for them to get into the mode of why they’ve been swimming the past month. This is what we’re aiming toward.”
There were 25- and 50- metre races in almost all disciplines, with some of the times being better than others, but the most important aspect of the event was that the concept of meets and how they’re run won’t be a foreign concept by the time a few weeks roll on and the Eels are actually in meets.
“The timing that we’re doing is really more for the parents,” said Dzeryk. “A lot of parents just took the officials’ course so this is about timing, stroke and turn and stuff like that. That’s really more for the parents.”
In two weeks, some of the Eels will be off to Humboldt for the first official meet of the year and then a meet in Regina a week after that, June 23 will see most of the Eels able to attend the much closer meet.
Among the youngest kids at the Eels club, there’s the potential for some of the great future athletes like coaches Jaiden Jocelyn or Cassidy Reich at that age. But you might not have quite seen it yet at the mini meet.
“The 7-, 8- year olds are usually pretty timid,” Dzeryk said. “They probably don’t even swim their fastest at the mini meet because they’re just trying to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing.
“In the 9-, 10-year-olds we do have a lot of strong swimmers.”
