The Orillia Recreation Centre is hosting the Huronia Short-Course Regional Championships this weekend.
Orillia Channel Cats head coach Meredith Thompson-Edwards says this weekend marks the first major competition held at the new municipal facility on West Street, South.
“We’ve never been able to host a competition of this nature because the requirements are now eight-lane pools with spectator seating," said Thompson, noting their previous 'home' at the Orillia YMCA featured a much smaller pool.
“It’s very exciting,” she said.
This weekend, more than 350 swimmers will dive into Orillia’s pools from all over the Huronia region. Each swimmer competed previously to qualify for the opportunity to participate this weekend.
“We haven’t participated in an event like this since February 2020 because of the pandemic,” Thompson-Edwards explained. “For a lot of these kids, this is their very first regional championships.”
Thompson-Edwards says this weekend’s event will help raise the profile of the sport of swimming in Orillia.
Thompson-Edwards believes that hosting the event should result in an increase in membership for the Channel Cats.
“Knowing that we can host bigger meets I think is a really good thing,” she said.
In addition, local athletes will have the opportunity to achieve provincial championship qualifying times. To do so, they will need to place inside the top eight.
Anna Holton, 16, was swimming in the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle, and relay competitions for the Channel Cats on Friday morning.
“It’s super exciting,” the Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School student said. “It’s so fun having all of these teams here.”
Holton says there is a special atmosphere in the ORC's aquatic centre today.
“There is a lot of excitement,” she said. “It’s really competitive but also super friendly.”
Holton says she has been swimming with Channel Cats since she was nine years old. Since then, she has never experienced a competition on her home turf of this magnitude.
“I’ve never seen this many teams here,” she said. “It’s really awesome.”
Jackson Denne, 15 was swimming in the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 200 individual medley, and the relay competitions for the Channel Cats on Friday morning.
“Some teams have 60 kids here today,” the Twin Lakes Secondary School student said. “I can’t remember the last time we had a meet like this in Orillia. It’s pretty fun.”
Denne says his main goal today is to make sure his teammates are having fun.
“This is our home pool,” he said. “I think we want to be really supportive of each other today and cheer each other on.”
A list of results and a schedule of this weekend’s events can be found here.
