Now having climbed out of the swimming pool for the season, Pass Piranhas coaching staff recalled a season full of personal best times and exciting improvements.

In her first season as head coach, Heather Dutton said the team dramatically improved as swimmers throughout the short season.

"A lot of them found themselves (becoming) swimmers," Dutton said over the phone. "They developed everything, not just one particular stroke."

Dives, turns and four different strokes became natural for the young swimmers.

"The kids had a lot of stroke improvements and best times," Dutton said, noting the team was young this year. "We won a lot of medals at regionals."

Up against larger teams, the Pass Piranhas squad came in fourth out of the nine swim teams in our region.

It was hard not to feel pride for the swim team, Dutton explained, as many were very diligent in their training-and made her feel welcome on deck.

"The team and parents made me feel very welcome," she said. "It was a great experience being the head coach."

In this year's swim season at the Pass Community Pool, Dutton had much help-in the form of Liz Rypien, Karen Hughes and Lisa Sygutek.

As there was no qualifying round for regionals, 17 Piranhas made the trek to Lethbridge to take part in the heated competition.

From there, 12 local swimmers qualified for provincials-four one their own and eight as wildcards.

"The kids were pretty nervous," Dutton said about their Edmonton provincials. "When they came out of their race, they knew they had done their best and they were proud of their season."

However, intimidation kicked in as only three Piranhas-though 12 qualified-were able to go to provincials.

"The kids' focus for their races were to swim their best and to try to get a best time," she said, noting that it was hard not to be nervous by large swim teams.

Already looking ahead to next summer, Dutton said she is ready to start swim season.

"A lot of the kids were in the down year," she said, noting kids ages and categories are measured as of May 1. "(Next season) almost three quarters of the club or more will be the older ones in their age group."

With that being said, Dutton explained that there will be a much higher chance of qualifying for provincials.

"This year, they were just beginning to know me and next year, when I'm back, it'll be so much easier to start the season," she said. "They'll know my expectations and how I coach."

Dutton thanked all the parents and grandparents for showcasing their passion for swim club-getting the participants to practice on time.

On Friday, August 31, staff at the Pass Community Pool held a very successful Pirate Party to end the season.