The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It's tough to get in sync, but practice makes perfect. That's what Flin Flon/Creighton's Aqua Doves synchronized swim team intends to do. The team will be heading to Winnipeg in April for the Crocus Challenge provincials. Second year coach Amanda Link is guiding the team of 14 swimmers. "It's going good with the older ones," Link said. "They can coach themselves. I do figures with them and they make their own routines." Link said the challenge in preparing for a competition four months away is the swimmers memorizing their routines and knowing their competition figures. The swimmers only practice twice a week for a total of two hours and they have roughly 30 weeks total since the beginning of the season to be ready. Link has already been counting down the practices as they had 29 left as of Jan. 12. "I'm feeling stressed with the younger ones," she admitted. When it comes to the newer swimmers, they have to learn the figures and how synchronized swimming works. Before getting to that stage though, they had to get stars one through three. Eight-year-old Brett Wenger is one of the newcomers participating. She will be doing a duet with Madison Mihalicz. "It's fun, all the under water stuff," Brett said. "I like doing the front pike." Brett is looking forward to the competition and has found learning the technique a bit hard, but only because she's new. "I think they'll be fine," Link said about all the swimmers. "I'm not that competitive with them. We've never been a competitive team since I've been here." One of the more competitive swimmers is 16-year-old Cara Hill. Cara has a goal to get as far as she can to eventually become a coach. "I really like coaching and to be able to coach at a higher level," she said. Cara will be doing a solo and figure. The figure combines components of swimming. "It's been really good," Cara said of the practices. "We're at the exciting stage of picking music and writing the routine." She also knows the hard work that is ahead of her, but said that it just comes down to preparation. "The coaching is good," she said, since Link was a swimmer not long ago. "She goes through the books and figures and gives suggestions." The Crocus Challenge will take place April 21 and 22 at the Pan Am Pool.
