Regional meet begins

Swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all-time last summer.

On Friday the next generation of potential Olympic hopefuls hit the water at the Canada Games Complex in Thunder Bay, the opening day of the Northwestern Ontario Regional Championships.

Featuring swimmers from Kenora to Marathon and all-points in between, more than 190 swimmers will take part in the weekend event, said Thunder Bay Thunderbolts coach Stu McLean.

“We’ve seen an increase in our membership with the Thunderbolts. I know that we have more swimmers here this year than we did last,” McLean said, moments before the first athletes climbed onto the starting blocks.

“Usually coming out of an Olympics you see a little bit of a bump, people being involved and being active in the sport. And the really fun part of the meet like this is you see a lot of young, energetic kids who are sort of the next wave of kids moving forward with the sport.”

There’s plenty of talent in the water, McLean added. A lot of the swimmers will advance to provincial completion, either in Ontario or Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Some are vying for something a little bit bigger.

“You do have those kids who will (get to) nationals, and this is a Canada Games year, so there are a couple of kids I know in the region who have that as a goal to try to make that,” McLean said.

Months of training have gone into preparation for this event. But training can only excite youngsters so much, he added.
“It’s gotten to the point now where it’s time to race. They’ve done a enough of the up-and-downs, so let’s see where I’m at. From just a pure competition standpoint, it’s great to see it,” McLean said.

“It’s always great to have a meet in this pool. This is literally one of the best facilities in the country for competitive swimming. So having a meet in a fast pool never hurts. And I think it will do a lot for a lot of kids’ confidences, especially coming out of a big training block.”
Racing continues Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m.