Surrey Schools swimmers on the podium at provincials

Secondary students from four Surrey schools returned from the BC School Sports 2023 Aquatics Championships with a new set of hardware following several podium finishes:

• Men 50m freestyle (Para): Ashaan Bhatti, Grade 10, Queen Elizabeth – Gold
• Men 50m backstroke (Para): Ashaan Bhatti, Grade 10, Queen Elizabeth – Gold
• Men 50m breaststroke (Para): Ashaan Bhatti, Grade 10, Queen Elizabeth – Gold
• Girls 200m Individual Medley: Kelly Qi, Grade 10, Earl Marriott – Silver
• Boys 200m Medley Relay: Grandview Heights Relay Team – Silver
• Boys 400m Freestyle Relay: Grandview Heights Relay Team – Silver
• Boys 200m Freestyle Relay: Grandview Heights Relay Team – Silver
• Boys 100m Backstroke: Jeffrey Chen, Grade 8, Fleetwood Park – Bronze

Held in Nanaimo last month, the annual swim competition is the largest high school meet in B.C. and welcomes competitors from all nine provincial zones.

Fleetwood Park Secondary swim coach Brett Salary said what sets swim competitions apart from other high school sports is there are no age categories.

“You’ll have Grade 8 students going up against Grade 12 students in the same event and so for some of the younger students to medal, those are particularly huge accomplishments,” he said. “There’s also no single, double or triple ‘A’ classes, so there’s no determination based on your school size who you’re competing against.”The Fleetwood Park swim team at this year's BC School Sports 2023 Aquatics Championship.

Salary said swimming programs in the district  are less common than other school sports as it can be more difficult to get access to pool time for practices. While most schools have access to fields and gymnasiums, swim teams need to find time at community pools, which can sometimes be difficult to coordinate.

“We do our practices at 6:30 in the mornings twice a week because that’s the only pool time we're able to get,” said Salary. “There’s definitely more of a barrier to entry just based on when a school might be able to get access to a pool.”

Another unique aspect of high school swimming, said Salary, is that unlike soccer or basketball where students can try out for the team with little to no prior knowledge of the sport, students interested in joining the swim team are required to know how to swim before joining.

“There’s an obvious safety factor due to being in the water,” he said. “We’re not there to teach them how to swim, but to help those who already know how to swim get to a place where they can compete.”

For those who know how to swim and are interested in taking part in a school sport, however, swimming is another avenue to represent their school.

“Anyone who comes out and can swim is on the team, even if they might take two minutes to swim from end-to-end, you’ll have your chance to compete,” he said. “We don’t cut anyone because you’re not competing for a limited spot on a team, and this is one more opportunity for student athletes to bring home a medal or banner for their school.”