~ Submitted by Ally Bateman, SOBC – North Shore Head Swimming Coach
The North Shore Annual Invitational Swim Meet was held on Sunday, November 20th, and was a great success. We were so pleased with the turn out of both athletes (122) and volunteers (approximately 25). Our athletes tried their hardest and were lead in their Athlete’s Oath by the North Shore’s own Belinda Lyle. We are so pleased to offer the first swim meet of the year which is an opportunity for many of our new swimmers to try a meet for the first time, and for our more experienced swimmers to get back into competition mode, especially since this is a qualifying year.
We also took the opportunity to highlight the North Shore’s new Sport Start swimming program with an exhibition race including our new young athletes. They really enjoyed being part of the team and having the opportunity to see what a real swim meet looks like.
We, once again, ran a card-less meet, which is really the best way to go for fast results. With the help of Barb Mathieson and Kim Whaley, the marshalling area was a breeze and the athletes were clearly directed on where they needed to be. Our starters and officials Joe Elsinga, Eduardo, Mark Logan, Sue Logan, Alexa Logan and Juan kept the meet running smoothly and professionally. A big thank you to Penny O’Rourke and Ron Lloyd for organizing our timers from the Progress Club. Our North Shore alum Corrie Carlile, and her mother Joan, were our runners and made sure all timers and officials were running on schedule. James Shannon, Adam Kouwenberg and Amy Fisher ran the results at break-neck speed and had all the results and ribbons ready within 15 minutes of the end of the meet.
We had a lot of fun and were able to include all of our athlete ability levels in our competition, which made it a rewarding experience for everyone.
A special thanks to our team of volunteers Jen and Barb Mathieson, Jim and Susan Juilfs, Tanya Kostadinova and Jen Wiebe for packing our bag lunches (thank you Allison Hall for purchasing the items for the lunches) and donating food for our timers and deck officials.
We hope to see you all back at our meet again next year!
