The Woolwich Memorial Centre pool will see plenty of action this Saturday as the Elmira Aquaducks put their summer swim training to good use at the season’s semi-finals.

Victoria Nicholson, head coach, said to get a ribbon they have to place in the top eight of their race.

“A lot of our swimmers have been finishing in the top eight,” Nicholson said. “They’ve been doing really well that way.”

She said many of them have been improving their personal best times, which gives them something to focus on. Each of the 23 swimmers will be competing in at least three events plus a relay at the semi-finals.

“There aren’t as many swimmers in this session as we’ve had in the past, but they’re still doing really good and working hard.”

She thinks the numbers are down because of other extracurricular activities or family holidays. The team tends to grow in the fall and winter sessions.

This week they practiced twice, working on sprints, dives, and flip turns. They also talked about different techniques and ways to improve their stroke skills.

“They usually swim about two lengths for whatever stroke,” Nicholson said. “We try to get them timed. We post it on an Excel document so they can see how they’re improving.”

To keep the swimmers focused, the coaches walk beside the pool motivating them, and giving breaks when needed. They also do theme nights, like Monopoly night where they’ll have to do a different skill depending on what tile they land on, on the board.

They’ve already competed in Fergus and Kincardine this summer. How much swimming they do depends on their age category.

“If you’re 8 and under, you’re only doing one length of either front crawl, back crawl, breast stroke or butterfly,” Nicholson said. “When you’re nine and 10, it’s the same except for front crawl you do two lengths. When you’re 11 and 12 you’re doing two lengths for front crawl, back crawl, and breast stroke, but not butterfly. And then when you’re 13 and up it’s two or four lengths.”

The Aquaducks had three first-place relay finishes, and 57 top eight individual finishes at the Fergus swim meet. Finals will be on August 9 at the Wilmot Recreational Complex. More information can be found online at www.elmiraaquaducks.com.