October Newsletter #3

October Newsletter #3

Hello LASC Families,

I hope you are all doing well and that you’ve had some down time since the swim meet. We had a ton of amazing races and happy faces and we were very happy to see the swimmers get their racing started for the season.

Friesen Plastic’s Fall Challenge - Recap

LASC had over 70 swimmers competing at our opening home meet of the season this past weekend. Hundreds of best times were set as every swimmer on the team earned at least one best time. There were quite a few exciting moments over the course of the weekend. LASC swimmer Taylor Ginther won the Women’s Mystery 50 over Jr. Horn’s coach and U of L Swimmer Ryenne Katterhagen as she battled 4 rounds of tough competition from fellow LASC members, UofL Horns and other teams. On the Men’s side Jr. Horn’s coach Tristan Bennett duked it out with Provincial 2 Assistant Coach Fergus Park to claim the title. Two club records were downed as the quartet of Calyn Lothian, Taylor Ginther, Naoise Gelber, and Kaitlin Kozub took a near half second off the club 200 Free Relay record from 2023, and Calyn added an individual record, re-setting her 200 Free time from last season by a tenth. Our LASC Top 10 rankings also saw a number of individuals move up the ladder or break through for the first time. It was a fantastic way to start the season, and we’re hoping the swimmers feel more motivated than ever to keep improving.

As a staff we were very pleased with the heart and determination all the swimmers showed when stepping up to the blocks. Every race was hard fought and well contested. They showed support and community with one another through their cheering, words of encouragement, and congratulations. Their commitment was on full display as their best times and great racing showcased all of the work they have been putting in during practice. 

A massive thank you to all of the parents and family members who volunteered their time and efforts to make this swim meet possible. These meets can only function when dedicated people step up to help and we have a great crew here at the club. We also want to thank Friesen’s Plastic for being the Title Sponsor, Starlane Holsteins and Tetra Tech for sponsoring our gift table (it was a big hit!), and to Lethbridge Toyota for being our hospitality sponsor and keeping our officials and volunteers well fed.

The results of the meet will be uploaded and online soon. If you ever want to find times or results from your swimmers, you can search for them here and see club rankings here.

Schedule

Our next upcoming alteration in the schedule is that there will be no swimming on November 11th with Remembrance Day. This is for all groups in the club, Competitive and Jr. Horns. There will still be swimming on Monday, November 10th.

Upcoming Meets

Upcoming meet information and sign-up can be found on our Events page here. As well, a full schedule of all of our upcoming meets can be found here.

Cascade Speed Meet - Calgary - November 8-9th

Thank you to all swimmers who registered for the meet. We hope to have a strong showing at our first travel meet in Calgary at the Seton YMCA.

AMAC Fall Invitational - Medicine Hat - November 14-16th

Thank you to all swimmers who registered for the meet. We’re looking forward to heading east and competing at the Big Marble Go Centre.

JP Fiset Invitational - Edmonton - December 11-14th

Qualified swimmers in the Academy, National, and Jr. National groups are encouraged to attend. Qualification times are listed in the Meet Package on our events page. Please register and list which days you will be attending by November 17th.

Cascade Age Group Challenge - December 19-21st

Swimmers in the Provincial and Olympic Way groups are encouraged to attend. Swimmers in Jr. National and National who are not attending JP Fiset are encouraged to swim here. More information and details on the meet will be posted soon. Deadline for registration will be November 28th.

Swim Alberta Mental Performance Series - Today, October 28th, 6-7pm

Swim Alberta is hosting a number of online sessions throughout the season titled the ‘2025-2026 Mental Performance Series’ for swimmers, coaches, and parents. These sessions are held in partnership with the Canadian Sport Institute Alberta (CSI-AB).

The sessions are targeted for age group swimmers (12-18 years), club coaches, and parents of swimmers. All individuals attending these sessions must register for each session using the link below to receive the Zoom link to join the meeting.

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/psvSiKs2SiCvLtgybjdiTw

TOPIC: Competition Preparation

• It’s go time! Join us to learn specific tools that you can start using today. We will discuss race planning, routines, and how to boost your confidence for race days
• Outcome: Participants will be given strategies for appropriate plan races, practical tools to influence confidence, as well as plan for external factors that may impact multi-day events.

Take care and swim fast!

Josh