The Crowsnest Pass is well represented as a community of adult runners, cyclists and triathletes, and this summer the Pass Pool hopes to expand that to include the sport of swimming.

Throughout the month of July and until its closing week, the Pass Pool is offering a Master Swim group on Tuesday evenings. Master Swim is a popular sport throughout Canada targeted at swimmers 16 and up.

“Often times Master Swim is referred to as ‘swim club for adults’,” explained Yvette Putter, the coach and organizer of the group. “But while members often have strong swimming backgrounds, it’s actually a group open to anyone with an interest and love of learning how to swim efficiently and who may want to use this sport as a workout.”

Putter has been a competitive swim coach for five seasons, the last three have been with the Pass Piranhas. Putter also grew up swimming at a national level in South Africa.

“I have such a love of swimming; I can’t imagine it not being part of my life,” said Putter. “It really is a great sport for people at any age to get involved in that offers such great benefits to the body. I’m really excited at the idea of being able to help others explore it, get comfortable with it, and then get active in it for their entire lives.”

Putter said she hopes to attract swimmers of all levels to the group, and then work with individual groups based on their goals.

“We have the whole pool to utilize, so I hope to establish groups within the main according to individual needs. From a beginner lane for those wanting to learn the basics like swimming with their faces in the water, to a middle section of those looking to finesse their strokes, all the way to the amateur athletes training for triathlons and who need long distance, recovery and guidance on proper turns.”

So why go to Masters instead of Lane Swim? Putter said she thinks it’s great to go to both, but with Masters, swimmers can benefit from having a coach provide advice on technique and a program geared at ensuring a workout.

“Oftentimes at lane swim, swimmers will be active the whole hour, but they’re only swimming one stroke or doing one kick. With Masters you’ll be ‘forced’ to change it up, work different parts of your body, do interval training to ensure cardiac and calorie burning benefits. But all at the pace in which you decide to join in. I’m not going to force an adult to do anything but I’ll be there to support you to push yourself.”

Masters will run Tuesday nights, 7-8 p.m. The program is free with the use of a pass or the regular drop-in fee. Any questions regarding the program can be asked through the Pass Pool, or by contacting Putter at yvetteputter@gmail.com.