History
The Kelowna Masters Swim Club unofficially began in 1983 with less than ten members sharing the pool with the Aquajets Swim Club at the Parkinson Recreation Center. The group called themselves the Aquajets Masters. They were the first Masters group in Kelowna.
In 1985, the founding members of our club: Flo Masson, Joanne Ritchie and Tom Johnstone decided that the Masters swimmers would break away from the Aquajets and book the pool exclusively for themselves. They decided to call themselves The Kelowna Masters Swim Club. At this time, the club had about 20 members with about 15 of them training to do triathlons.
The club officially registered as the Kelowna Masters Swim Club with BC Masters in 1986. The 2003/2004 season set the record for membership level with 83 members while 1996/1997 saw the lowest membership level with 30+ members.
Laurie Charbonneau (then Wilson) was the first (and fourth) President and Mark Whittle was the first coach. Other club Presidents included Lisa Jaffary, Andrew Tse, Bill Ridinger, Dan Durall, Karen Gretzinger and Todd Merenick. Coaches with our club have included Suki Futa, Nick Rabinovitch, Kari Bailey, Lindsey Kovats, Doug Felberg, Dave Kirk, Sue Morrison, Kirsten Preusse, Olwyn Bruce, Louise Roberts-Taylor, Greg Ketchum, Bart Vanstaalduine and Rob Macauley.
The Across The Lake Swim began in 1949. It has always been a part of the Kelowna Regatta. The Across The Lake Swim is the longest running annual open water race in British Columbia. It is also the last swimming event left from the early Kelowna Regatta. The Kelowna Masters Swim Club took over the administration of the Swim Across The Lake from the City of Kelowna in 1986.
The fastest time for a male swimmer for the Across The Lake Swim is Roland Bauhart at 20:49, in 1997. The fastest time for a female swimmer for the Across The Lake Swim is K.C. Emerson at 23:27, in 1999.
