WATCH/GALLERY: Water Ninjas dominate at home meet

The records continue to fall for the reigning provincial champion Cochrane Water Ninjas lifesaving sport club.

During their recent home meet, club members broke eight club records and set four new provincial benchmarks.

New head coach Alexx Diep says among the other highlights was the performance of Caebri Smith, who is a strong up-and-coming swimmer on a great path for performance. Smith brook two club records, two provincial records and was part of the relay team that broke a provincial record that dates back to 2016.

Brook Kubik set her first club record in the 10-11 age group and he says she's positioned to break more, and Rylee Bashow, brand new to the club and the sport, showed good potential, already breaking a record at her first meet.

Full list of the records broken is below

About 90 club members participated in the meet, amounting to about half of the competitors, and won it by a long shot. 

The 13 and under swimmers scored 1,135 points, 400 more than the second-place Lethbridge team. In 14 and over, the Water Ninjas scored 1,517 points, about 1,000 more points than second-place Okotoks.

• Water Ninjas defend provincial title, smash 13 records
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New head coach Alexx Diep

Diep comes to the club with a 29-year background in coaching competitive swimming and is also the assistant head coach of the Nose Creek Swimming Association.

He says he is enjoying many aspects of the club, the sport, and working with the athletes and families.

He says from the moment he began, there was an instant sense of the proud culture that had been created.

In the pool, it's all business. Poolside, though, the strong bonds created come to life. 

"They are very supportive of each other for the sake of being good friends and good teammates, but also for the sake of wanting the sport to advance. That was striking to  me how much love there was in that. It's great."

"I enjoy the community feel of the club. I think that is the one thing that I enjoy the most so far."

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