Since 1979, the Chinook Swim Club has served as the outlet for young swimmers on the Coast.
The club has had a nice run of success, and so far this year the club has achieved some great results in the pool.
Currently, the club boasts 85 members with a core group of around 15 who compete on a regular basis. Members range in age from eight to 17. The club trains three days a week at the pool in Gibsons with non-competitive swimmers training once a week.
"A competitive swimmer can get four hours in a week," said club swim meet manager Paula Green. "We would certainly love to have more hours in the pool and a larger facility. Don't get me wrong, the staff at the pool have been fabulous to work with and the community has been very supportive, but you'd always like to have a top-notch facility."
This is one of the challenges that face the swim club when it attends meets in the Lower Mainland.
"The kids that our swimmers are competing against have upwards of 10 hours or more in the pool," Green added. "Our kids are doing well, but just think how much better they would be with more practice time. Having a larger pool would also allow us the opportunity to host our own meets. We're often get asked by many clubs in the Lower Mainland if we'd host a meet. They want to come here. Hopefully with the planned upgrades at the pool and talk of a potential recreation centre, we could see that in the future."
In October, the club said goodbye to long time coach Dan Cross. Tibor Baldauf, who was an assistant coach with the club, assumed Cross's duties as head coach.
"Dan was a devoted swim coach, and with his contribution, the club produced many good athletes during his tenure," Baldauf said. "I have coached many clubs in the past and prepared age groupers on their way to the Olympics, and I can honestly say that we have many talents here.
"I hope our community will stand behind us in the future. We need moral support as well as financial support if we are to put the Sunshine Coast on the map of amateur sports."
Last Sunday, the club held its annual fun meet. The meet was a way to get the senior and novice swimmers together.
"The younger swimmers get a chance to see what an actual swim meet atmosphere is like," Green said. "We had three swimmers who said afterwards that they wanted to start to compete because of the fun they had during the day."
About half the club took part in the meet, competing in different events including the freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, fly, individual medley and relay events.
The swim club belongs to the Lower Mainland zone, part of Swim B.C. The club competes in events from October to June, attending one to two meets every month.
The club has had a good run of success lately with several swimmers qualifying for a meet at Simon Fraser University in February, and hopes are high to qualify swimmers for the provincials later in the season.
