Led by veteran coach Julia Wheeler, the youth team at the Brant Artistic Swim Club {BASC) will be preparing for the Ontario Winter Games, running across two weekends in late February and early March.
Wheeler, who has been with the club for 45 years, explained the event that the youth team will be part of.
“We just competed in Ottawa at the Winter Waves Classic. And in conjunction with that, they do an Ontario Winter Games qualifier. When we go to the Winter Games, there are 20 different sports that are competing which includes everything from skiing, swimming, to skating. And part of that is offset by tourism and through the province, our athletes were selected to compete on behalf of what is called the central west region. For that portion of Ontario, it’s really everything that stretches from Windsor up to Brantford, Kitchener, London and out to Niagara,” she said.
However, the veteran coach noted that the team is very special.
“I have coached a lot of teams over the years, but this team is special [with their] ability to work well together and to recognize each other’s strengths…there’s something that’s positioned them just to be where they are for this season. The technical side of it is only 50% of the game usually…[and] the other side is what you can do mentally with it. I think them qualifying this year has been a massive boost. The Ontario Winter Games’ only run every couple of years, and this is the first time in quite a number of years that Brantford has sent a team to the games. So, that’s pretty special….this youth team are doing a lot of great things this year, and they’re proud to represent their city and the county. We’ve been fortunate that we’re recognized by the community,” said Wheeler.
Despite some changes, the youth team has developed together well by getting support through grants and finding consultants that can help them excel.
“A lot has changed for us in the last few years, and I think what has really helped us to move along is that we successfully secured some grants from the city and the county this last year, not only to support, [and] to elevate our training, but to maintain our safety. Actually, concussions have become a huge issue in our sport with the types of throws and different things that are going on in the water. So, this year, we’ve engaged a lot of outside consultants to help us with that. We’ve improved our technology for swimming, so we’ve implemented training with underwater cameras to make sure that we’re performing safely,” she explained. “We also engaged with resources through the Brantford Aquatic Club and have been using one of their coaches to elevate our basic training in terms of just our swimming skills, because that’s extremely important to the sport. We also have a coach who works with us….and she’s been assisting us with our acros to ensure that we’re teaching them safely. The girls are in the pool four to five days a week, and it’s a combination of doing everything from gymnastics training to your basic strength training to the swim training, and then you kind of get to your fun stuff….like synchro training and choreography.”
However, the team, with athletes ranging in age from 13 to 15, have worked very hard for the opportunity to head to the Ontario Winter Games.
“The personal things they give up [include] social activities or Grade eight trips of course time with family …as we continue preparing for meets. But in the end, they’re building skills that are going to carry them through life. Even though they give up some of these things…they all have really great friendships because they meet people that understand what they’re doing and are like-minded. I think [while] you give up those opportunities, you gain so much more because at the end of the day…it’s what you remember….you’re not going to forget that you missed one birthday party in ten years, but you’re definitely going to remember that you went to the Ontario Winter Games,” Wheeler explained.
While a strong inspiration for the BASC is the recent success of the Canadian National Team, it all comes down to the importance of local clubs.
“It’s been a great couple of years for the sport of artistic swimming. We all know Claire Scheffel, who started her career with the BASC and she moved on to swim nationally through the Waterloo Club. While it was a great move for her…[the] opportunities that come from these smaller clubs….that are the grassroots of what we see on a national level is very important,” Wheeler said. “Even within looking at this year’s team, there are two athletes on this eight-person team that were selected to be part of the High-Performance Academy for Ontario…they are training and preparing for meets in a way that keeps them connected to those long-term goals like being part of the national team. Even though we may not be having a full-fledged national team in Brantford right now, the opportunities still exist for those kids to get to that point.”
Nevertheless, the club has been in existence for 49 years, and as Wheeler explained, it has been because of the support and dedication of many people.
“We have a great board and a coaching team that understands that we can’t do this on our own. Sometimes you have to reach out and you have to recognize where we needed to start latching on to some additional expertise. Between the board supporting us and the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, we’ve been able to grow a program that’s gotten us to this point,” the coach said. “I think the hurdle in the community right now and for us is that we are experiencing a lack of pool space which sometimes stifle our growth. So that’s going to be the challenge moving forward. But we’ve been really fortunate to have that partnership and train in an Olympic sized pool for close to 50 years.”
While the team is starting out as a new team together, they are meshing very well.
“We have six returning members and two new ones. Our season just began in September [and] we did one meet in December. That meet represented the first time for us that we actually competed with our new choreography, with a haunted house theme. We were lucky to work with someone who creates music for Skate Canada, and he put together a piece for us that has been well received. And we are getting a lot of feedback on the memorable moments from those who are seeing us during the performances,” she noted. “And for us, as a team, we’re really excited that people are already recognizing how fun the routine is, and so that gets us excited to work harder to get it [and] to elevate ourselves to where we want it to be by the time we hit meets like Ontario Winter Games or the championships at the end of the year.”
Along with the Ontario Winter Games, the team will be looking forward to competing at other events this year across Canada.
“We will be going and competing in Saskatchewan this April at the Canadian Prairie Championships. The team will compete out west, which for some of our team members, will be the first time they’ve actually traveled [farther away]. It’s a meet that’s open to clubs all across Canada. So, we’re going out there and just looking forward to showcase some of our Ontario athletes,” she stated.
While the youth team is looking to continue to compete this season, the focus has remained on developing their dynamic.
“We are sometimes looking at almost 30 teams across Ontario that will compete in this age group for the season, and this team has big goals of holding on to a top six spot, ideally. They would love to be on the podium, but right now we’ve been taking baby steps, ensuring we get there and have a strong season overall,” she said.
