The swim season has ramped up over the past few weeks, with athletes across Manitoba posting faster times in the pool.
The Selkirk Dolphins Swim Club has been among the busiest teams in the province, competing in three meets over a three-week stretch since the end of November.
Across those competitions, about 70 per cent of Dolphins swimmers recorded personal-best times.
“I’m very impressed — I’m actually very happy with the results,” said head coach Michelle Stamm. “It’s early in the season and the swimmers are really engaged and understand what is required of them in training to translate to racing, which is a huge step.
“Most of my swimmers are in the 11- to 14-year-old age group, a couple have just aged up recently, and I also have a large pool of male swimmers, predominantly male versus female, which is new for me. It definitely changes the dynamics.”
Stamm said the Dolphins have about 30 swimmers on the roster this season, supported by three coaches.
One of the club’s top performers is 15-year-old Alexis Liebrecht, who posted multiple personal bests at the Prairie Winter Invitational held last weekend at Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg.
Liebrecht has qualified for both the Best of the West Fest in Winnipeg in April and the Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet in Vancouver in June.
Teammates Dominic Bernard, Malkin Bighetty, Erin Garn and Ariel David also achieved personal bests at the meet, which featured more than 400 swimmers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
Earlier this month, the Dolphins also had six first- and second-year swimmers compete at the Rural Round Up in Brandon. Stamm said newer swimmers are currently training about four hours per week in the pool, while the club’s top group swims up to seven sessions weekly.
The Dolphins have also introduced 30-minute dry-land training sessions this season.
“That introduction is building team camaraderie because they can socialize in that half hour,” Stamm said. “It’s also building strength and awareness of their bodies and technique, and strengthening muscles they need specifically for swimming.
“We’re going to continue that and build on it for sure, but I do feel there’s been huge improvement overall with the team.”
