Competition is bringing about provincial and national recognition for a Foothills club.
Foothills Artistic Swimming Club athletes have produced a pair of national qualifications along with a first-place provincial level team performance ahead of its flagship event to close a remarkable season in the pool.
Camryn Stearn, the longest-serving member of the club at nine years, and Kate Deisting swam solo performances at a provincial qualifier in Grande Prairie and earned qualification to the Canada Artistic Swimming national competition later this month in Victoria.
“I’ve been solo now for three years so it’s definitely deserved in that sense because I’ve been working hard towards that,” Stearn said. “I wanted to work on being more in the moment and just embracing it as I do it instead of working on solely winning.”
Coach Emilie Lussier said both of the solo swimmers stood out for their artistic talent, one of the strengths of the club as a whole.
Earlier in the winter, the novice competition team coached by club head coach Shawna Koski secured a first-place finish at Northern Lights, a provincial level competition held in Calgary.
“Not only did they win first, they hammered (the field),” Lussier said. “We’re super proud.”
The tightly-knit, six-athlete novice team features Mairyn Gordon, Emery Haasdyk, Anna Holt, Nicole Bennett, Emily Gardner and Claire Finlayson.
All six athletes attributed their success to their bond as a unit in their first competition.
“It was scary at first, but we’re all close so at least we had each other,” Holt said.
This weekend marks the Year End Water Show where all of the recreational and competitive athletes get a chance to showcase their routines in elaborate swim costumes and makeup.
The theme of this weekend’s event is Lights.
The show is held at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 and the public is invited to attend at the Riley Minue Pool in the Okotoks Recreation Centre.
For more information, go to foothillsartisticswimming.ca.
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