With summer just around the corner, the Estevan Golden Eels Swim Club is getting ready to dive into a new season—and there’s still time to register.
“We’re really looking forward to this season,” said Scott Walton, president of the Estevan Golden Eels Swim Club. “We’ve had a few of our older swimmers reach the end of their swim careers, so we had a few extra spots. We actually have about nine extra spots for registration, so there’s still spots available if people are interested in joining the club.”
The club will be hosting the Southeast semi-finals on July 19 in Estevan. Swimmers who qualify there will move on to provincials, which are set for July 26 and 27 in Watrous. Walton said the team is in a strong position this year.
“I see a lot of our swimmers making that—competing at the provincial level,” he said.
Despite a few graduating athletes, the club’s registration numbers have been trending upward.
“We’ve been growing for the last three years,” Walton said. “Obviously the COVID years impacted a lot of kids’ sports, and we’ve managed to survive that and continue to grow, and we’re almost back up to our full registration maximum numbers.”
The Eels welcome swimmers of all skill levels. “We have a minis program which we started up about three years ago and it was to help our club grow. That was ages five and six, and that every year fills up almost immediately,” Walton explained.
This year, the minis program has already filled, but there are still two openings in the 11-and-under category and seven in the competitive older group.
Practices run from May to the end of July, Monday through Thursday, with optional Friday sessions for focused skill development.
“Practices are Monday to Thursday, with another practice available on Fridays just for special skill development,” said Walton. “Those are about an hour in the water."
While experience isn’t required, swimmers must be able to swim the full length of the pool. “If they’re interested in swimming and developing, it’s basically open to all age groups and all abilities,” he said.
Head coach Erin Wilson will once again be leading the team. “She’s got many, many years’ experience in developing swimmers and running our swim club,” Walton noted. “We have a couple of other coaches in development which are there to learn and help swimmers develop. So we have lots of support.”
Although the Eels have a full coaching staff for this season, the club is preparing for the future.
“We do actually have a head coach who is going to be moving on probably at the end of this season, so we are looking to bring in a couple of extra coaches and have them develop and mentor under our head coach,” said Walton.
The Eels have a strong track record at competitions. “I believe we had 15 swimmers compete at provincials last season in Swift Current. They did very well,” Walton said. “We are one of the top clubs at all the swim meets, usually across Saskatchewan.”
He added that having an indoor pool gives the club an advantage by allowing them to start training earlier than other clubs.
The Eels focus on summer swimming, but athletes have used it as a launchpad for other opportunities. “Some of our swimmers progress moving to winter club swimming or progress into water polo,” Walton said.
The season officially starts May 12. Walton encourages anyone curious about the club to stop by the pool that day to learn more and speak with board members.
“We are a non-profit swim club and we are looking for some sponsorships,” he added. The club recently invested in state-of-the-art timing systems and is hoping to fundraise for a large LCD display screen for live results at meets. “It really brings a great atmosphere to our competitions.”
To register, learn more, or inquire about sponsorships, reach out through the Estevan Golden Eels Swim Club Facebook page or contact Walton or Erin Wilson directly.