Panorama Recreation Centre was teeming with swimmers, young and old, during the Peninsula Piranhas swim meet over the weekend.
There were an estimated 250 swimmers from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands taking part in the sixth meet of seven for the Island region of the B.C. Summer Swimming Association.
Vancouver Island Regional Director Brian Webster, from Salt Spring Island, says the Piranhas weekend meet was successful, despite a few glitches with a new timing system. That said, he added the many club and parent volunteers helped make sure the swimmers enjoyed the event.
“Times have been fast,” he said, noting there were many records broken and personal bests achieved. “Quite a lot of Piranhas swimmers have earned personal bests at the meet.”
Panorama’s entire main swimming pool was used for the competition, with vendor tents and camping areas set up on the grass outside the rec. centre. It was a warm day in and out of the pool, Webster added.
The seventh and final swim meet of the summer swimming season is next weekend on Salt Spring Island, said Webster. That will be followed by the regional championships at Saanich’s Commonwealth Pool over the August long weekend.
Successful swimmers from that event will go on to the provincials in Kamloops during the third week of August.
Webster said the BCSSA is open to swimmers of all ages — there were a few masters-level competitors in the tank on the weekend — but is geared mostly towards youth. He said the program help develop skills and confidence in young swimmers. Those skills, he continued, help kids stay safe in the water and create love for a life-long activity.
“There’s almost no other sport you can do as a child that you can also do throughout your life.”