A swimming club in Waterloo Region is awash with hope for the future as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. The Region of Waterloo Swim Club has served as the training ground for homegrown heroes and Olympic athletes for five decades. It was once part of Victor Davis’ and Mike West’s paths to the podium as they achieved glory while the whole world watched. Ron Forrest, an assistant coach with the club who has helped train Olympians, first joined the club in the 1980s and still calls it home. “It was just a great time to be here. It really made you love the sport,” Forrest said. While athletes are in the pool, they may be focusing on their breaststroke or zeroing in on a personal best, but the Region of Waterloo Swim Club is also emboldening them with the skills they need for everyday life on dry land. “Hard work, commitment, dedication to something,” Forrest said. “We teach time management. We teach all sorts of skills that can be used when they go to school, when they have to go out into the work world in 20 years.” “Our biggest goal is for swimmers to be great people. To be leaders in our community,” fellow coach Kaitlyn Mains said. “The club is my happy place” Part of the club’s success comes from the sense of community it instills in its members. “Swimming is a pretty individual sport at times in terms of results,” Alex Johnson, Region of Waterloo Swim Club’s head coach, said. “But it’s really hard to achieve success without the support of your teammates.” Mains said walking through the doors is enough to dispel even the dreariest of days. “The club is my happy place. It doesn’t matter how tired I am, as soon as I walk into the pool, I’m excited to be here and the kids are excited to be here,” she said. The club’s 366 members range in age from four to 18. It’s a significant difference from where they were during the COVID-19 pandemic, when their numbers trickled down to 166. Hopes for the future Many of the modern members still hold the same hopes as their predecessors. “To go to the Olympics!” 12-year-old Eliza Lin said. “I was thinking this morning, ‘Wow, I’m part of a community that’s 50-years-old.’ I get to be part of this,” she said. She’s not the only athlete with big aspirations, and the coaches said they’re there to help every step, or stroke, of the way. “We guide the athletes, we provide the programming, but really, it’s them who take control over what they want out of the sport and commit to the goals,” Johnson said. As they look toward the future, the club would like to see new facilities built to keep up with the growing demand and inspire the next generation. “Every year more and more people come in swimming. Every year, we need more and more facilities and we just are not building,” Forrest said. “That’s something we, as a community, as a province and as a country, we need to do a better job.”
