INUVIK
Jenna Guy and Kierra McDonald have been averaging eight hours of swimming practice per week this year, and they're about to get a whole lot busier.

Kierra McDonald will be competing at Canada Summer Games along with Jenna Guy. They have been averaging eight hours of swimming practice per week. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

The two are headed to Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg this August. To prepare, they face some intense training in San Diego and Yellowknife over the summer, averaging four hours per day in the pool plus dry land work.

"It's a full day of training," said Ken McDonald, one of the coaches of the Mackenzie Muskrat Swim Club, which just held its final meet of the season.

"Both those girls have very strong work ethic and they're very coachable."

The club as a whole has grown over the years, starting with about six swimmers 10 years ago to roughly 22 now.

"The swim meet went really well," said McDonald. "Our swim club has come a long way. We're now holding these official events that get entered into the Swim Canada database and all swim times are official. We had a whole pile of personal best times for the swimmers."

Getting recognized by Swim Canada shows the professional level the club has grown into, he said. McDonald gives a lot of that credit to coach Vince Brown, who he said runs it like a professional-grade swim team.

"The level of swimming has gone up," said McDonald.

In addition to the two swimmers headed to Canada Summer Games, four other Muskrats are destined for the North American Indigenous Games in July. Those are Tatum Mistaken Chief, Marshall Brown, Hannah Gordon-Rogers and Kyra Buckle.

Julienne Chipesa, who is attending school out of the territory, will also be going to NAIG.

The swim season usually starts when the Midnight Sun Complex's pool opens, either in September or October.

McDonald thanked the volunteers and the community for supporting the club's swimmers in their pursuits.

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