The Bulkley Valley Otters hosted their first in-house swim meet of the year at the BV Regional Pool Sunday morning.
“It was a great day,” head coach Tom Best said.
“We had a really good turnout, we had a few Special Olympics athletes join us and everyone had a great time.”
Fifty swimmers of all ages competed, though the emphasis was less on times and more on fun.
“We just wanted to make it a fun environment, and make sure the younger kids were having a blast and I think the older kids had fun helping out the younger ones as well.”
For most of the younger Otters swimmers this was their only competition of the year.
Best was impressed with the development he’s seen from the younger kids.
“Some of these kids were only swimming 25 metre races last year and now they are up to 100 metres,” Best said.
“It’s quite an amazing improvement and a credit to all the great work the assistant coaches have done.”
One of the highlights on the day was the participation of the special athletes who are fairly new to the club.
“I am really happy to have them involved,” Best said.
“Their coach, Gail Jones has done a really good job of getting it organized and getting it off the ground.”
Up next, the Otters will host their first swim meet of the season on March 8-9, against other clubs from Terrace, Prince Rupert and Kitimat.
“We’re going to try and win our own meet. That has been difficult for us in the past because we haven’t had a lot of younger kids swimming for us.”
Now, with more swimmers than ever, the Otters should be able to compete in most disciplines.
“Kids who have been to provincials will be looking at events they haven’t done in awhile and the kids that haven’t will look for this to be a highlight of their competitive season.”