In the midst of a breakout season, the Canmore Cohos kept enough in the tank to put on a dazzling swimming display for their hometown crowd, breaking eight club records in the process and winning an incredible 50 medals at Elevation Place on Saturday (July 25).
“The team did really well. They’ve been really dedicated, they’ve been attending all of their practices, they’ve been listening really well to feedback and instruction. As a result, they came away with some really fast swims overall,” said coach Ben Bronsch.
Led by Carter Beamish and Ella Stokowski, the club now has eight swimmers ranked in the top 10 provincially. Lina Clevenger, Tanner Douce, Alison Gourley, Bryanna Meggs, Karl Stoliker, Isaac Wilson and Rosie Wilson also have top individual rankings.
“A lot of the kids have been in the program for a couple of years. It takes a couple of years to build in the technique, to build in the habits, to learn how to train. After being dedicated for a number of seasons, the kids are starting to see the fruit of that dedication,” Bronsch said.
He said the home meet did give the Cohos a bonus, as the team was oozing with confidence. Beamish astonished his coaches by dropping two seconds off the club 100-metre backstroke record, and Stokowski broke a club record in the 100m breast stroke that had stood since 1993.
“You don’t have to get up early, you know the pool really well, and you know the ceiling. You’re super comfortable in the environment,” Bronsch said.
Overall, the coach said this has been the most successful season in his six-year tenure, and credits the athletes and the coaching staff for exemplary results. Team enthusiasm is extremely high, as the athletes have achieved many of their well-defined goals, swimming 13,000 metres a week.
“This is definitely the best year I’ve ever coached, not only because of the performances, but also because we have an incredible coaching staff that’s really supportive and been super solid and consistent,” Bronsch said.
This year, the club added coach Barry Healey to its staff. Healey brings more than 30 years of experience to the pool, having coached extensively through Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Barry brought a lot of experience at all levels of swimming. He brings tips and stories to the kids that they can relate to, no matter what level,” Bronsch said.
Beamish set personal bests in nearly every discipline at the local meet, and said he knew he was going to have a good day as soon as he woke up.
“I woke up and I could feel it,” Beamish said. “I know the pool. It feels nice.”
After five years with the program, the 100m backstroke is his specialty, and he’s within grasp of a provincial record. Training backstroke sprints is his favourite in the pool, and Beamish is quickly finding his rhythm, spending five days a week in the pool, two hours at a time. He said there is no magic recipe behind his speed: simply train hard, eat well and get lots of sleep.
“I feel if you train, you get faster. I like that,” Beamish said.
Meggs, who is ranked second provincially in the 100m breaststroke, won three medals at the Canmore meet. After eight years with the team, she said she’s getting stronger, is motivated by the close-knit team atmosphere, and is fighting like crazy to keep her provincial ranking.
“Being with the same group of kids year on end brings together a close swim family. I enjoy it so much,” Meggs said.
She’s supplemented her training by joining basketball, volleyball and handball at her school, Our Lady of the Snows.
“I enjoy the competitiveness of it. I can be competitive as an individual, or as part of a team.”
Bronsch singled out many of the older athletes for strong results, and singled out the boys 17 and under relay team.
“They broke the club record by two seconds, which is phenomenal considering we had a 12 year old on the team (Beamish),” Bronsch said.
He’s not letting up on the team, as they have just over two weeks until provincials in Edmonton. Motivation and focus is key, he said.
“What’s important is to keep intensity high in the workouts. We talk it up every day and keep them focused on the goal,” Bronsch said.
