The Cochrane Piranhas are currently recruiting new members for their upcoming summer season.

Kevin Fitzsimmons is the team registrar for the Piranhas and he says that the summer swim club is just shy of 60 members at present, and they're looking to add members in all their age groups.

"Currently we have roughly 55 swimmers on our team," says Fitzsimmons. "We're currently recruiting new swimmers in all our age categories which are from age five to 17. swimmers older than 17 can swim but they transition into the master's category and don't necessarily compete with the younger kids."

Members of the Piranhas are set to start training in May and Fitzsimmons says that depending on the swimmers' age, the practices range from three to five days a week.

"We train from May until typically mid-August," says Fitzsimmons. "Athletes that are going onto provincials will swim in the provincial championships in mid-August. The younger ones swim three to four times a week and the older ones towards the end of the summer are swimming practically every day with some of the practices occurring  in the morning time."

Training happens Monday through Friday during the summer months, with occasional competitions being held on the weekends. Fitzsimmons says that joining the Piranhas is ideal for swimmers looking to join a club with a shorter commitment, and still have their summer weekends free to enjoy with friends and family.

In wake of COVID-19, the Piranhas didn't have a 2020 season, but Fitzsimmons is hopeful that they can get the team back in the water for the 2021 season, for training at the very least.

"As we transition this year, it's obviously a year with challenges and uncertainty with COVID, but we are very hopeful that we will have a training season in the pool where we can have kids in the pool with certified coaches learning the fundamentals of swimming and becoming competitive swimmers," says Fitzsimmons. "Whether or not we have competitions this year that remains to be seen and that's largely out of our hands at this point."

Registration is currently open and is on a first come first serve basis. All interested swimmers are asked to get in touch with the team registrar here.