With the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre’s pool maintenance finally over with, the Prince Rupert Amateur Swim Club (PRASC) isn’t wasting any time getting back up to speed with the 2014-15 swimming schedule – one they’ve fallen behind on by a month now with the pool’s closure.
“We’re going to ramp right back up to a full practice schedule right away,” said PRASC head coach Chris Street.
Street mentioned that while formal assessments for registrants happened on Tuesday, registration for new members is always ongoing for the season.
“If people aren’t there for Tuesday, we’ll do the assessments as they come,” he added.
Among the expected returnees include Amy Leighton, who won nine medals at the 2014 North American Indigenous Games and Avery Movold and Brandan Hagen, who both competed in the 2014 Canadian Age Group Swimming Championships in Winnipeg.
Until now, the team has been running dryland training drills, which while important, is hardly a comparable replacement to that much time away from the water, said Street.
“The dryland’s a substitute but it’s not a good substitute so we’re looking forward to getting back to work. We’ll do some freestyle [strokes] to start with,” he said.
The team won’t send a bus or the whole squad to an upcoming Prince George meet in three weeks, since not enough time has passed for them to train adequately, but Street mentioned there may be some athletes who choose to go on their own.
On Sunday morning, the Prince Rupert recreation department announced that the main pool and hot pool are ready but the tot will be closed “for a few extra days until a replacement part arrives.”
PRASC’s first meet as a team will be in Kitimat in December.