‘We speak about One Herd loads. I believe that basically resonates with this group’

With the most important coaching roster for this system in over a decade, which incorporates 19 student-athletes on the eligibility certificates, the current and way forward for the Bisons swimming program is shiny.
 
This yr’s roster contains 4 contemporary faces who’re actively competing on the ladies’s facet (Aryana Arquero, Annabel Kolman, Arielle Patts, Jillian Stacey), and 6 on the lads’s facet (Cameron Adamson, Stephen Banek, Harlem Lau, Mahinder Singh, Jerome Timpug, Rowan Wick), complementing an skilled group alongside them.
 
Veterans Carson Beggs, Indi Halldorsen-Haines, Ella Howe, Shea Guest, Avery Weiland , Eric Dupre, Brayden Stacy, Ty Unrau, Tam Doan, Rhade Kostelnyk (redshirting) and Andriy Usan (redshirting), have finished a incredible job integrating the rookies. The tradition throughout the program is as robust because it’s ever been, and the outcomes have been incredible as nicely.
 
The Bisons enter the Canada West Swimming Championships as we speak by Sunday in Lethbridge with excessive hopes, having swam numerous finest instances getting into the competitors.
 
Away from the pool, the group of younger stars – eight of whom are merchandise of the native Junior Bisons and Manta Swim Clubs – have gelled seamlessly with the skilled crop of Bisons.

 

“We talk about One Herd a lot. I think that really resonates with this group. We all step back and work with the younger group. That’s a big part of our program. The Junior Bisons are a big part of us. And merging the two clubs right now, with Manta and Bisons, you really get to work with and get to know recruits that are coming in. The boys that came in had that opportunity,” mentioned Beggs, a breaststroke specialist in his fifth yr with this system.

 

“On the girls side, we had two come in from our program. Jill, with her brother being Brayden, this is now a family trend. They’re all doing that job, they’re making the changes. The jump from club swimming to varsity, it is a jump and there’s a huge demand to ask. This group is just so tight-knit and they’re committed. They ask the questions that need to be asked, and get the help that they need.”

 

At Pan Am Pool, the Bisons have arrange store within the excessive efficiency coaching centre, as their makeshift workforce room. They spend “a lot of time together” there, studying and rising collectively.

 

“A lot of the guys and girls are taking classes together. We see third years and fourth years going back and helping. I’ve seen Ella [Howe] giving tutoring lessons in economics classes more times than I can count. It’s this meshed group, not only on the swimming side, but on the social and school side,” added Beggs.

 

“We’ve never seen a bigger group of swimmers on UMAC trying to get involved. That’s a really big part of our program and trying to grow it. Indi is the co-chair. I’m the executive assistant. Ella is on the executive board. Shea and Avery are our team reps, and Andriy and Mahinder on the guys side, so there’s seven of us. In my second year, there were just two of us.”

 

Halldorsen-Haines (mid distance – freestyle specialist), and Howe (dash freestyle specialist) jumped proper into alternatives on the athletic council’s government board, and over time, extra of their teammates have gotten concerned.

 

It’s been an vital method for the group to remain engaged with different student-athletes, and advocate for what’s vital to their program and others in a management function.

 

“It’s a really great leadership group that we’ve got going,” mentioned Beggs. “We all want to see this program succeed. That is felt all through the program from the veterans to the rookies. They want to see what happens next, not just what is happening right here right now.”

 

In the pool, anticipate huge outcomes from Manitoba this weekend.

 

Howe, a gold medalist within the 50m free at Canada West, is coming off a summer season representing her nation within the Canada-Great Britain Dual Meet, which happened in Loughborough, England. She certified because of a stellar exhibiting at U SPORTS final yr, and he or she’ll be key for Manitoba within the relays as nicely.

 

“She is a hard worker and competes well. As soon as she stepped on the deck in Vancouver [at the College Cup], some of the swimmers that were there with her in the summer, you could tell that there were connections there that were formed,” mentioned head coach Vlastik Cernty. “That’s a real neat thing to see. She formed some new friendships and relationships.”

 

Expect all of Manitoba’s relay groups to make noise general. Specifically on the ladies’s facet, the 4×100, 4×200 and medley ought to carry out nicely, with the likes of Halldorsen-Haines, Howe, Guest, Weiland, and rookie Aryana Arquero prone to be within the combine.

 

Arquero is without doubt one of the girls’s “fastest sprinters” within the butterfly and has “an opportunity to be competitive.”

 

On the lads’s facet, Manitoba has robust depth within the breastroke, paced by Beggs, whereas Tam Doan has additionally been racing at finest instances.

 

“Tam has come into his own. He raced well in Vancouver. [Beggs and Doan] are duking it out for that spot on the relay team,” mentioned Cerny.

 

“He has really become more consistent in his training and it’s starting to show in his racing. We do these race simulations in the pool and he’s really stepping up in his performances.”

 

“Tam, the best part of College Cup was watching him win a swim-off to get into the A final,” added Beggs of his teammate.

“When Tam is put in that pressure situation, he just steps up. He’s that guy, he’ll do it. He’s very good in relays when his team is relying on him, or the pressure is high, you know Tam is going to step up.”

 

Eric Dupre, the college record-holder within the 200m backstroke (quick course) can be one to look at. He’s balanced a demanding course load within the Faculty of Engineering, and has thrived.  

 

“Eric has been a top performer on the team. His school has been pretty heavy so he’s been coming in earlier and training on his own,” mentioned Cerny. “He’s been an Academic All-Canadian and managing his swimming which is not an easy task.”

 

Additionally, Dupre, Beggs and Ty Unrau are all members of Manitoba’s record-breaking 400m medley relay, establishing a prime time of three:44.26 in 2023.

 

Long story quick, Manitoba has the proficient and ability to thrive this weekend, they usually’re as linked as ever.

 

“We might not be the biggest team. But you’re not going to meet a group that is more tight-knit and caring than this group,” smiled Beggs.