The Merritt Otters dove in to competition once again this past weekend in Kamloops for their regional swim meet. Marking this as their eighth meet, the Otters are happy to be back competing again, steadily gaining experience, after two years of operating at a limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“We’ve lost a lot of the older kids in the club because we haven’t been running for a couple of years,” said Otters Head Coach, Janis Post.

“This year is mostly a build year where we’ve had a lot of new swimmers joining the Turtles and Group 3.”
Post coaches the club along with two assistant coaches. She explained that the Otters did not have a season in 2020, and only operated at a limited capacity in 2021.

“There were only two swim meets offered last year; one in Golden and the other in Kamloops,” she recalled.

“We did virtual meets and we had this meet mobile app where everybody would do virtual racing. We just compared the time to see where the kids placed, but that was about it for last year.”

The Otters began this season on May 1, 2022. The club has 40 members, with ages ranging from five to 18. They are put into either one of four divisions based on their skill level. Beginners are grouped in the Turtle division, and they move up to Groups 3, 2, and 1 as they progress. Group 2 and 1 are the ones who attend meets and spend more hours on rigorous training.

“They swim two and a half hours everyday,” said Post. “They swim in the morning and they have their dry land training afterwards.”
Unlike the previous two seasons, the Otters were able to travel across BC this season, from Revelstoke all the way to the Lower Mainland. Post has been very happy with their performance.

Merritt Otters 2022 swim meet results

“Most of the kids are here for recreation, but there are also a handful of kids that have dedicated a lot of time and have the potential to go to the next level.”

Post shared that the Otters are looking to host a swim meet at home so the Turtles and Group 3 could experience what a swim meet is like.

“I think swimming would gain popularity in Merritt because we already have all those younger kids enrolling,” she said.

“This is a really good recreational activity for kids. It keeps them fit, its a good confidence booster when they go out to swim meets. We call our
group a swim family because we are a close-knit group that all look out for each other’s kids.”

The Otters who have placed in the regional meet will finish their season at the provincials in Kamloops, happening from August 19 to 21.

Post noted that the club will have a Winter Maintenance Program in October. This will serve as a good introduction to swimming and will prepare the Otters for next season. For more information please visit the Merritt Otters’ official Facebook page.