Travis Doroshuk can be forgiven if he seems like a kid on a sugar rush this weekend.
The member of the KISU swim club is excited for the first home meet at the newly renovated community centre. His feelings are reaching a high for another reason.
“I’m getting pretty excited because I have been out of the water for a while,” said Doroshuk. “I’m not expecting 100 per cent best times, but I definitely want to place well this week.”
Doroshuk is looking to build his endurance following his hiatus from the club when the pool closed. He said this will be a good competition when it comes to keeping up with swimmers.
“It’s just getting back into a good groove,” said Doroshuk, who added this meet sets up things for the season. “Hopefully I will be able to perform well.”
The type of performances that KISU has is what coach Tina Hoeben is curious about. She wants to see where her swimmers are.
“It’s a hard meet to set goals for because you still don’t know where people are at,” she said.
Reilly Rowland is excited. She also shares that feeling to see how everyone does.
“I’m excited to see if I can do some best times,” said Rowland, curious to know how many spectators will come.
Heading into the weekend, Rowland wants to earn some strong best times. As for personal goals this season, she hasn’t set any.
“I haven’t really put a lot of thought into it,” she said, adding that two of her goals are to reach age group nationals and compete in the AAA meet hosted by Richmond.
Focus at this point has been placed on strengthening the aerobic base. Work has been done on speed, but Hoeben is cautious not to get going too strong to prevent injury. The KISU coach said goals can be set, but she just wants to see where her group needs more work.
Swimming in their new home could provide a spark.
“I think it will have an impact on their excitement,” said Hoeben. “Their training is something that will be bigger in the end.”
A reason Hoeben doesn’t have expectations is because not all the swimmers stayed fit through the summer. For those who did, she is interested to see how they perform and how close they are to their best times.
It’s a rebuilding year for the club, which was impacted by the pool closure. Back in their home, KISU will be hosting four events this season. The next one is in January, then one in March, April and May.
“We have a new facility, it’s great to show it off,” said Hoeben smiling.
Hosting more meets also gives the clubs new, lower-level swimmers great experience without
the travel.