From 18 to 97, Regina Masters Swim Club shows age is just a number

The Regina Masters Swim Club is providing a place for people of almost any age to compete in the pool.

The club first started in 1977 and currently has members who are 18-97 years old.

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Edie Hilts, 85, is one of the older members of the group. She said she didn’t pick up swimming until she was in her 60s.

“It’s been an amazing journey for me,” Hilts said. “Mary Brown, who is one of the oldest members and founders of our club, she has been a long-time friend and she kept saying ‘You should come.’ One day I did, and have not stopped.”

As much as she has grown to love the sport, Hilts said the people have been the biggest reason for her to keep coming back.

“Some wonderful people who have been amazing mentors and coaches who have really helped me. I was a Red Cross swimmer, never a competitive swimmer. I had to learn how to swim again. That was quite a challenge,” Hilts said.

“Mary encouraged me to go to a swim meet six weeks after I started, which nearly killed me, but I loved it. I loved the fun of the competition, which made me want to practice harder.”

She said the club has plenty of older members.

“There’s about 20 or 25 of us over 70. These young ones have been wonderfully supportive and encouraging. They are there cheering for us when we’re doing a 1,500,” Hilts said.

The Regina Masters Swim Club features a wide range of experience and ages. (Jennifer Gardiner/Submitted)

“They are there not just for the swimming things. They are good friends. They support us through all the ups and downs of life. Those of us who have lived a long time have had a lot of ups and downs in life.”

She said creating that environment has allowed the club to thrive.

“We get to spend a lot of time together. We encourage each other. We get to see the older folks break Canadian records and break provincial records and cheer for them at swim meets,” said Jennifer Gardiner, a swimmer who sits on the club’s board of directors.

“Then the young kids who are coming up from the varsity program that have been joining into our club have been tons of fun to have on our swim team.”

Scott Venables, 57, had been a competitive swimmer since he was 11 years old. He joined the program three years ago.

“It was an opportunity to get some coaching and the camaraderie of being able to swim with other people. They push you and make it a little more exciting on a day-to-day basis,” Venables said.

“There’s three excellent coaches – four with our dry-land coach. For what we pay for the pool time and the coaches, it’s by far one of the best wellness programs I have been involved in.”

When Gardiner first joined the club 15 years ago, it featured a lot of older swimmers, but it’s become popular with the younger crowd as well.

“As the years have gone by, we have seen a lot more of the 18-to-30 age group join the club, which has been awesome to have that whole range of ages.”

So what has led to getting that influx of younger athletes?

“It all starts with one person who joins who tell their friends who are former swimmers, and then they tell their friends who are former swimmers,” Gardiner said.

“The difference between training with an age-group club and training varsity is you don’t have the pressure that you do as a collegiate athlete or an age-group athlete. The only pressure you have is the pressure you put on yourself.”

With a large group of athletes, the team was able to claim first place at the 2025 Speedo Canadian Masters Championships in Saskatoon. The team had 83 athletes competing, winning the High-Point Overall Award after finishing with 4,505 points and an accumulated total of 251 medals, including 105 gold medals.

The Regina Masters Swim Club won a banner as the top-scoring team at the 2025 Speedo Canadian Masters Championships in Saskatoon. (Jennifer Gardiner/Submitted)

“It was awesome. I have gone to numerous nationals – my first nationals I went back in 2015. There was only like 10 of us who went,” Gardiner said.

“Last year, when we had close to 90 swimmers at the meet, it was massive. It was so much fun. There was at least three quarters of the team cheering for everyone swimming throughout the entire three-day swim meet.”

It was the also first time the club ever won the gold at nationals.

“We have a banner hanging up at the Lawson. It was super good for our program,” Gardiner said.

“The other teams from across Canada complimented on how impressed they were on how much the program has grown.”

Joshua Adams is one of the team’s younger athletes. The 27-year-old is a former swimmer with the University of Regina, and he’s taken on a coaching role with the club.

“It’s really inspiring, especially seeing the level of commitment a lot of people have,” Adams said.

“A lot of them have labourous jobs in construction, or they are sitting at a desk and working long hours. To be able to get up at five in the morning and put in an hour-and-a-half practice and then go to work – some people do the afternoon practices as well so they are doing doubles – it’s really inspiring.”

The club has also shown Adams that there can still be a lot of competition in his future.

“It makes you want to set a goal and take care of your body,” Adams said. “It’s great to see that that is a possibility and lots of people are able to do it.”

Gardiner said her message to anyone considering joining the team is to simply come out and give it a try.

“You don’t have to be an elite athlete to come and join our swim club,” Gardiner said.

“We have people who are learning to swim, people who are training for a triathlon, people who are doing it for a life-long sport and keep in shape as they age. You don’t have to compete. You can just come and train and come and socialize.”