Orcas having a solid start to campaign

“I’m always big on racing at home, it’s pretty important in any sport,” he said. “You have to perform in front of your family and friends, and the kids stepped up and really impressed (their families).”

There were around 400 people that took in the event in terms of people visiting North Battleford, as well as the pool. Visitors from around the province travelled from as far away as Regina and Lloydminster, as well as more local teams from Meadow Lake and Prince Albert. The competition was fast and fun for swimmers that took part.

Just this last weekend was also a big test for the Orcas. They were in Sasktoon for an invitational, which was the last time for many of the swimmers before provincials coming up in three weeks.

This was their first big competition of the year, with all events being held over three days. Many kids raced distance, mid-distance and sprints and they performed well, McLeod said.

“Some teams focus on one area, because of lane space and it’s hard to perform in all three areas,” he said. “All our swimmers had personal bests across distance, mid-distance and sprints, lots of different strokes and they performed very well.”

McLeod is looking forward to having five swimmers qualify for provincials, which will be in Saskatoon in three weeks. The provincials are interprovincials with Manitoba, and the Man-Sask competition promises to have high quality swimmers, but the Orcas are expecting to reach the podium in multiple events.

In terms of the season so far as a whole, coach McLeod couldn’t be happier and more proud of the Orcas. A big factor for him starting off the season was getting his numbers up for attendance.

“The attendance is getting better and better, sometimes its tricky with other commitments,” he said. “I’m incredibly impressed with the attention to detail, the discipline and work ethic from the kids.”

McLeod mentioned that he had a lot of swimmers in the 90’s for attendance, with a few in the 80’s. It’s been nice for the club thus far, as there hasn’t been any injuries early on in the year. They’ve been eating their training up, but they’re focusing on their bigger goals rather than not getting distracted with the little things. A big aspect this year for McLeod was not taking days off and focusing on the training rather than focusing on racing, and just letting the times be what they are.

He mentioned that the cohesiveness of the program has gotten better, with team spirit going up around the club. They are getting to be oner of the loudest teams on the deck, something that McLeod welcomes and loves, as the times have diminished as a result.

In terms of the rest of the season, McLeod has ideas for what he wants the kids to accomplish.

“I want to see more and more swimmers qualify for provincials,” he said. “We have five quality, but three or four on the bubble. I expect more people qualified for the summer provincial championship.”

Other goals he will be focusing on is getting a relay team established for the girls, kids focusing on having the best end to the season, getting as fast as they possibly can and ultimately have every kid proud, with a smile on their face at the end of the year.

For the rest of the season, there are a lot of different things to watch for the team. They have one swimmer hoping to get into the Western Canada Games and a couple boys heading into University next year. McLeod wants the best experience for the two, in whatever route they hope to take. One has looked more into going down to compete in the states, while the other wants to stay north of the border.

The hope is to have all swimmers move up levels internally, and grow the team in terms of getting their numbers of competitive swimmers up from 20 to closer to 30 by years end.

McLeod also made note of one younger swimmer internally that has had another fast start. Reese Sommerfeld qualified for the third year for a one day training camp in Saskatoon. The camp is for the best 12 and unders in the province.

Brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB

by Brady Lang

Orcas having a solid start to campaign

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