The White Rock Wave Masters Swim team brought home a win in the second meet of the season, the 41st annual Ebbtides Meet in Nanaimo.
Held at the end of November, the swim team – who vary in age from 25 to 98 – scored a total of 1,335 (men’s and women’s scores) to place first, with the Coast Swim Team placing second with 1,170 points, and the English Bay Swim Club coming in third with 1,120 total points.
The team, who trains at Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, are coached by Craig Slater and Ben Geary, noted Wave president Linda Stanley Wilson. Swim meets can be tricky for swimmers to travel to, she said, what with family, other sports and commitments competing for their time.
“We’re a team of about 75 people. There’ll be about 20 of us at any given meet,” she said.
“It is significant for us to win when we have to travel, as it can be difficult for people to make it.”
If swimmers win a race, it’s 20 points.
If the team wins a relay event, it’s 40 points.
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“We had seven relays,” Stanley Wilson said, noting the Wave team has depth because of the strokes they’re able to do – the four competitive strokes are butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke and freestyle, whereas some swimmers are strong with one or two of the strokes.
While it’s certainly nice to win, meets are also a great opportunity for the Wave team to socialize and have fun, especially at the Ebbtides Meet, which always features a tasty chill cook-off, with swimmers tasting and voting on their favourites, from vegetarian chilli to chilli made with bison, buffalo and even ostrich.
“We’re lucky to have a group of dedicated team members willing to travel all the way to Nanaimo. Having the numbers really makes a big difference. And relays are so much fun too,” said Wave registrar Heike Beer.
The Wave team will continue to train through the holidays at Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in preparation for the next meet in Victoria in late January.
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