First-year Haney Seahorses swim coach Dave Geary likes his team's chances of making a splash at the western Canadian championships after watching his group put up some impressive results at the annual Haney Holiday Lower Mainland Regional meet on Sunday.
The 80-member club swims out of the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre, where it hosted the weekend meet, and 22 local swimmers competed.
The older athletes were particularly strong, with Haney swimmers winning 13 gold medals in the 15-and-over categories.
Kaelen Osmond led the team with three golds.
He is an outstanding distance freestyler who will be joined by Jordan Morford, who is strongest at butterly, and sprinter Dane Simmons in representing the Seahorses at the westerns Canadian championships in February.
All three have already qualified.
Geary was also impressed with two of his under-10 swimmers, Brooklyn Mork and Kailin Wood, who both did well in their first-ever swim meets.
"The biggest goal for us is to grow our club membership," said Geary, noting that the club needs to recruit new swimmers in the Grade 4-7 age classes.
"That is a great time to join a swim team," he said. "They learn the value of hard work and discipline – if you want to be good, you've got to train."
• Anyone interested in joining should see the website: www.teamunify.com
