It was March, the lockdown was in full swing and Jamie Hellard found herself in need of a new hobby.
“I was actually scrolling through TikTok and I found these amazing chalk art examples, and I was like ‘hey I think I can probably do that,'” Hearld told CHEK.
Prior to the pandemic, the 3rd year University of Victoria student could normally be found studying or swimming for the varsity Vikes. Her talent in the pool even earned her a birth in the Tokyo Olympic Games swimming trials.
But when COVID-19 hit, however, everything changed.
What an amazing summer it was! Everyone was able to get outside, we introduced many new activities and attendance was very high. As we enter into the darker, cooler, damper days of our not-so-bad Victoria winter, we have added a lot of pool time. We have been very fortunate to have top level support from UVic and SCP. They have made concessions in many areas to get our athletes in and create a relatively normal feel to training, albeit with much reduced hours and lane densities.
As a recent article in Swimming World Magazine states, "The best swimmers are not always those who are the most talented, although talent obviously helps. What makes a swimmer – or any athlete – truly good extends far beyond talent...To celebrate those champions of the pool who inspire us, here are five ways to become a better swimmer."
With at least 282,000 individual training sessions completed since pools began reopening, and zero recorded spread of COVID-19 amongst swimmers at pools, Swimming Canada is encouraging all clubs and universities to return to the pool as health and safety protocols allow.
This month, PCS swimmers are raising awareness for mental illness in honour of Jesse Short-Gershman with Buddy Check for Jesse. It is so important to destigmatize mental illness and to help people understand what they can do to either receive support or give support when they or someone they know is struggling. If we look out for each other and do a "Buddy Check" with our friends, teammates, family members and even with ourselves, we can make a difference!
Learn more about Buddy Check for Jesse initiatives HERE.
Interested in signing your child up for a Lightning Fast Swim Series? We still have room for you! We have 3-5 spots in most LF Levels 3-5 and up to 12 available in our Tu/Thu timeslot! Register online HERE!
Need an idea for a fun game to play on a weekend hike this fall? Active for Life (full article link HERE) has a great list of homemade hiking games your family can try while enjoying the great outdoors!
CBC has just announced it will be streaming all 20 International Swimming League (ISL) meets, as well as semi-finals, starting this week! In addition, there will be 12 on-air broadcasts on CBC, some of which will be live and some of which will be taped delayed. That includes dates for re-airs of the finale, dates and details for which haven’t yet been announced by the ISL. Read more about the broadcast schedule HERE (SwimSwam).
PCS now has an account with the Bottle Depot at both the Glanford and Quadra locations. Just let the cashier know at the beginning of the transaction that you would like to donate your bottles into the Pacific Coast Swimming account. Easy as that!
