Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
The next 3 days are significant days for the Owen Sound Aquatic Club.
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, the Aquatic Club will be staging the first in what they believe will be a series of McDonald’s Mini Meets.
This first step in a return to competition is an all-Owen Sound affair starting with the youngest swimmers, aged 7-10, competing in a simulated time trial as part of their regular workouts.
Come Saturday, the Aquatic Club members aged 11 and older will compete in a sanctioned meet in which they will race against each other and against the clock.
From the outside you may dismiss this activity as simply an intrasquad meet, an exhibition or a rehearsal.
I disagree.
As Head Coach Ken Fitzpatrick firmly states, ” competitive swimming is competitive swimming ” and the key is to compete regardless of how big the stage, or the pool is.
Furthermore, this form of competition is likely a welcome outlet for the competitive swimmers.
There have been no meets for months, simply techniques, skills, drills and practice, practice, practice…which you can imagine at a certain point become monotonous and has the potential to kill motivation.
So the Owen Sound Aquatic Club with the solid backing of our local McDonald’s will hit the Y Pool for 3 days starting tomorrow in a small but significant step in their return to competition.
I’m Fred Wallace
