If this past weekend’s success is any indication, the Merritt Otters Swim Club will be a force to be reckoned with come next summer’s competitive swimming season.

The Otters held the first of four off-season mini-meets at the Nicola Valley Aquatic Centre on Saturday. No fewer than 46 local club members, ranging in age from 4 – 16, took part.

All of this Saturday’s participants are registered in the Otters’ winter maintenance program, which sees swimmers in the pool practising twice weekly for a total of two hours, and in the gym at Central School once a week for dryland training.

“That’s the maximum amount of supervised swimming we’re allowed to have out of season,” said Otters’ winter maintenance head coach and Central School principal Leroy Slanzi.

“The kids are really enthusiastic, and with these meets, our hope is to have the swimmers at or approaching PBs (personal bests) by the time summer swimming begins in April.”

“I’m tremendously excited about our winter program,” said Josée Warren who has two youngsters in the club and helps run the dryland sessions. “I think our swimmers will improve so much, especially with the fun meets every couple of months.”

Fourteen-year-old Jamie Neil is embracing the off-season training in a big way. Fresh off competing at the B.C. high school zone championships in October and almost qualifying for provincials, the Grade 8 student at MSS shaved several seconds off a couple of her best times on Saturday and sees plenty of room for improvement in the coming months.

For six-year-old Ryland Sheldon, Saturday’s action at the pool was a whole new world. A brand new Otter, Sheldon entered his first couple of races ever on Saturday and was all smiles.

“He just loves swimming. Our whole family does,” said Ryland’s dad, Randy, a P.E. teacher at Merritt Secondary School. “Swimming is really big with us, because we camp a lot in the summer, and we’re always by lakes and rivers.”

Sheldon went on to add, “With the Otters, I think Ryland is pushing and challenging himself a bit more than perhaps he would just with mom and dad. It’s good for him.”

For more information on the Merritt Otters and their winter maintenance program, contact the club registrar, Josée Warren (315-1075), or stop by the Aquatic Centre and inquire at the front desk.

Former Otter Taylor Carmichael, 16, was the lone competitor from Merritt Secondary School at the B.C. high school swimming championships in Richmond on the weekend. A total of 86 schools from around the province took part.

Competing in the open division for year-round swimmers, Carmichael placed 20th in the 100m freestyle (1:04.47), 23rd in 200 individual medley (2:43.79), 24th in 100m fly (1:14.60) and 27th in 50m free (30.09).

A Grade 11 student at MSS, Carmichael now swims for the Kamloops Classics Swim Club which trains and competes 12 months of the year.