Swimmers compete at Catalina Swim Club's Freeze or Fry meet in 2019. (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

'hopefully' more great things to come

Catalina Swim Club welcoming back members, excited for the future

Jul 16, 2021 | 10:53 AM

Summer 2021 represents a clean start for Red Deer’s Catalina Swim Club.

The outfit is coming off a 2020 which saw it lose about 25 per cent of its pre-pandemic membership of 80.

Head Coach Lucien Zucchi says most of the drop-off was in the 12-and-under crowd, which is actually preferable.

As he explains, that means they retained older members who are on track to further their pursuit of the competitive swimming scene. They also retained all their coaches through COVID.

For the younger crowd, Catalina is pushing its Learn to Swim program, which had its best registration ever this year, Zucchi points out.

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“With the younger swimmers, even though we did some virtual and dryland training during the pandemic, it was really complicated to keep them motivated. I’m super excited about keeping the older swimmers though. I would say they’re also super motivated and that’s really good,” says Zucchi.

“Right now, we’re swimming until the middle of August, but we’ll also have our first meet July 24-25 in Spruce Grove.”

This year and last, the Freeze or Fry meet, which Catalina typically hosts downtown each June, was cancelled as COVID restrictions hadn’t yet lifted.

This summer, Catalina will be closely watching Rebecca Smith, a former member, and Tammy Cunnington, a current member, as they compete at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Suffice to say, those two women serve as not only inspirations and role models for current members, but as an attraction for those thinking of getting into competitive swimming.

“Rebecca swam with us up until a few years ago before she left to Toronto. When we talk to our young kids and teenagers about her and Tammy, they are super excited. Tammy, we see her more often on the pool deck because she’s still swimming for us,” says Zucchi.

“The kids are really excited about the both of them and we were happy to see the City put up a banner on the front of the pool. We are cheering for them and really hope that when the Games are done, we can organize a swim clinic.”

Zucchi also hopes Red Deer city council sees Smith’s and Cunnington’s success as a signal that building an aquatic centre sooner than later is important.

“That pair proves that Catalina can help athletes go to the highest level and be professionals. We know how to do really quality work with different levels,” he says.

“Rebecca (Smith) left partially because we didn’t have a 50 metre pool here. It starts to involve really specific needs at a certain age. It’s like asking a hockey player hopeful of making the NHL to train his whole life on a half-sized rink. So again, with the infrastructure we’ve got, it’s exceptional what Smith and Cunnington are doing.”

More information about Catalina Swim Club and the Learn to Swim program is at teamunify.com.

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