Kelowna swimmers didn’t need indoor pool
The year was 1951. The summer was very similar to what we experienced earlier this summer in the Okanagan: cold and wet weather. Margaret Hutton has arrived from California in her step-down Hudson car with the California licence plates.
It was the fourth year in a row that Margaret travelled up from California to help with Kelowna’s Regatta evening show and coaching the swim team. She felt that the “girls” in the rhythmic group could go a long way, if given the opportunity. It was time to gather the 25-plus girls to start practising for the rhythmic swimming routines for the Friday and Saturday night shows.
At that time, the Lady of the Lake pageant was held on Wednesday night; Thursday night was the professional evening and the Friday and Saturday nights shows were the local entertainment evenings; same program both nights.
On Friday and Saturday nights, the rhythmic swimmers usually had two and sometimes three routines to do. We would practise in the lake cold water at least twice a day. When Margaret felt that we were getting near to the Regatta and needed more practice it could be three maybe even four practice times a day. She wanted the routines to be perfect!
Margaret also helped with the swim club’s practices. Once the Regatta was over, she took the swim team to the Spokane swim meet at the Comstock Pool. We were housed in the army barracks, along with several other teams from around Washington, Idaho and California. She also took us to Lake Chelan, Washington, and The Dalles, Oregon, for their swim meets.
Lots of fun for the few members of the swim club that could go. Usually, we had three car loads with Margaret and two other people who volunteered to transport us around.
In 1951, Margaret, in her wisdom, also took four girls to Cultus Lake for their Regatta. She felt that since we had won three times in relay events the previous year, it was time to venture out. We were entered in the 200-metre relay race. We won the race against the swim clubs from Vancouver and Victoria. This was a real upset for them. How could a summer swim club beat us when we practised all year long in our warm indoor pools?
Yes, we did not have an indoor pool, but the four weeks of practising for the annual summer Regatta with the rhythmic team was our training.