A decades-overdue upgrade is coming to the Canada Games Complex for the Thunderbolts swim team.
Andy Ritchie is a former Olympian and the Thunderbolts’ Assistant Coach, and secured a $5,000 grant to buy a new starting block for the pool. Swimmers push off from the blocks at the start of a race.
His grant proposal, titled “Northern Swimmers Take Flight,” is meant to help the Thunderbolts and other swimmers in the region get used to training with a modern starting block.
“The starting blocks at the Complex are 40 years old. They’ve evolved quite a bit since then, and the technique for diving for swimmers is very different from then. I wanted one current one so that our swimmers could practice on it, so when we go to big meets, they’re used to those blocks,” he explains, adding it will put them on equal footing with other teams.
Ritche says the block should be installed by the end of January.
He predicts the community will rally behind the project and pitch in to replace the seven other starting blocks at the pool. Ritchie notes his overall goal is to work with city officials to fully upgrade the Complex so it can host larger swim meets.
The funding is from the Canadian Olympic Committee’s OLY Canada Legacy Grant. The committee approves ten applications each year, to allow retired Team Canada Olympians to sponsor projects in their communities.
