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Ridge Meadows swim club growing fast, has new leadership

Sarah Rudolf promoted to director of swimming position
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Sarah Rudolf is the new director of swimming for the Ridge Meadows Titans swim club. (Neil Corbett/The News)

The Ridge Meadows Swim Club is on the grow, and one of the key people overseeing the burgeoning club is Sarah Rudolf.

The club that was known as the Haney Seahorses until last season recently announced Rudolf has been promoted to director of swimming starting this month.

With long pool shutdowns caused by both Maple Ridge Leisure Centre renovations followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the club shrunk down to 15 members. But now it has already swollen to 200 swimmers, and there’s potential to keep growing.

The club recently offered swim school, and Rudolf said she didn’t know what to expect. She would not have been shocked to get either five 0r 50 kids signed up. But she was pleasantly surprised to get 87 swimmers.

With city council now talking about the need for a new aquatics facility, she said the club could take another big step. With the demand they see, the club would have no problem filling a new pool, she predicts.

“With the possibility of a new pool, that could change the landscape of aquatics in Maple Ridge,” said Rudolf. “We could be one of the biggest clubs in the province.”

Rudolf is in her second season with RMSC, and has led the club through the renaming and rebranding of the program, the addition of new programs supporting different groups of swimmers in the community, and hosting the first two competitions since the pool closure in 2018.

She said they moved away from the “Haney” moniker because it refers to such a small area. The club wants to represent all of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. And they torpedoed the longtime “Seahorses” nickname because they don’t inspire thoughts of fast swimming. They need an afternoon to lap a tub.

“They move about a meter an hour or something, it’s one of the slowest things in the water,” she laughed.

The kids on the team love the new name and the new gear, she said.

READ ALSO: City of Maple Ridge vows to solve ongoing leisure centre issues

In her new role, Rudolf will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the swim program, including coaching, recruiting, and program development. She wants to provide programs for everyone – from the club members who have gone on to swim for university teams, to new members with physical challenges

RMSC is coming off a successful 2021-22 season, with Titans swimmers representing Maple Ridge at the regional, provincial and national level. That included a bronze medal from Joel Blanco at the Canadian Swimming Trials. With the club continuing to grow, and the addition of new programs, the club executive is excited to see what their swimmers are able to achieve in seasons to come.

The club offers year-round training for swimmers of all ages and abilities. RMSC is committed to providing its swimmers with the best possible training and support, and the club says Rudolf’s promotion is a testament to her dedication to supporting swimmers as they work to achieve their goals in and out of the pool.

“Ridge Meadows is excited to have Sarah Rudolf on board as director of swimming, and looks forward to continued success under her leadership,” said a club press release.

More information about the club is available online at www.rmsctitans.ca

READ ALSO: Ridge Meadows Flames win first series in fourth overtime


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Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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