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Pardon the cliche, but it is figuratively assumed in sporting circles that any organization, like the proverbial house, is only as firm as the foundation §t i;_!mi!t upon. > That may be well and good, but Region of Waterloo Swim Club (ROW) coach Cliff Barry, while not in disagreement with that assessment, likes to do things a little differently from most architects. * Region of Waterioo head swim coach Cliff Barry counsels his national swimmers. ks barry is attempting to build ROW into one of the strongest, Region of Waterioo Swim Club hopes for big splash at nationals Will the sun also rise in the west? Vic Davis Alan Swanston This week, Barry, with eight of ROW‘s top swimmers in tow, is heading out to the west coast where the Canadian Winter Nationals begin in Victoria, B.C. tomorrow. Naturally all eight competitors are heading out with the thoughts of winning on their minds, but of utmost importance is to swim â€"â€"well under the ROW banner. ' "In swimming, all the money, the big government grants, it all goes towards the cultivation of excellence in the top swimâ€" mers in Canada," said Barry after a recent ROW evening practice, one of the last preps for the nationals. . Of the eight, Barry lists Vic Davis, 17, a recent doubleâ€"gold winner in the Christchurch«Games in New Zealand, as a strong medal threat in the 100 and 200m breaststroke. Also with excellent medal hopes according to the bearded ROW mentor are Alan Swanston, 21, in the 100m freestyle and Mike West, 16, in the 100m backstroke. Other ROW swimmers include David Swanston. 18, John Allen, 17, Dean Boles, 19, Paul Hess, 16, and the only female competing will be Allison Loucas, presently ranked fifth in Canada in the 50m free. if not THE strongest swim clubs in the country within the next threeâ€"toâ€"five years. ‘"This is definitely the top meet, you can win an age group meet, and finish 10th at the nationals, and you‘d still get more recognition from the nationals." What has ROW people excited this year is the fact their contingent to Victoria is double the number that attended last year‘s winter nationals. â€" “l-.'aâ€"sâ€"tâ€" yea; vL'oucas, Allen, West, and Lianne Harker, who has since moved to Ajax with her family, were the only ROW swimmers to meet the nationallyâ€"qualifying time standard. -‘fi;_fiavi‘s;i}fihem this time around will compete in a total of 30 events, plus four relays, and Barry is supremely optimistic of their chances to do well. x . "I feel we already have one of the best senior men‘s teams in Canada, and that‘s backed up by rankings in SWIM magaâ€" zine," said Barry. ‘"We‘ve got strong individual swimmers like Victor (Davis) and Alan (Swanston) and we‘ve also got the second fastest men‘s medley relay team. We‘re very forâ€" tunate to have great swimmers in each stroke... ‘‘ Barry conceded the loss of Harker, an ace backstroker, as a big blow to his club‘s national aspirations this year, and also spoke dismayingly of the fact that another ROW swimmer, 12â€"yearâ€"old Kim Geliatly, missed qualifying for the 100 breast by 1/100th of a second, the narrowest possible time. But he is generous in praise of the seniors he now has in his stable, thanks in part to a handful of transfers ROW received from the Guelph Marlin club where Barry formerly taught. And he hopes to do it by starting at the top and working 6 io-u' jl;xsth-;vetobulld a big senior team to be successful,"‘ Mike West said Barry. ‘‘"The hardest thing to do is get seniors and keep them. But once you have a strong senior club, it helps you keep the kids coming up through the system." | . In profiling his contingent to the nationals, which will run through Sunday, Barry says they are slightly immature in terms of exposure to this calibre of competition, but that their. tremendous enthusiasm and togetherness attitude more than compensates. ‘"Overâ€"all I‘d say when I came here we (ROW) were very weak in ageâ€"group, there hasn‘t beerf a lot of recruiting or promotion of the club. But the success of ViexDavis and our other international swimmers has helped to change that. Club mordle is the big thing, if you can see your clubmate go over (to New Zealand etc.) and win events and medals in internaâ€" tional meets, it‘s good for the club as a whole. Most of our swimmers wouldn‘t have any idea of what they could do if _ It‘s the type of comraderie that Barry hopes to breed throughout the entire ROW organization. they didn‘t see some of the times turned in here. Even if it only means going to Division II meets, it makes the younger kids want to try harder when they see the older kids going to the nationals and so on." ~ "First, you have to bring in kids, you have to want to make them come and join your club, and I mean bringing in sucâ€" cessful swimmers. Then you have to add new kids off the street, and thirdly, develop what you have. In order to attain his admittedly high standards, Barry has ROW swimmers on a slightly steppedâ€"up training program of 10 practices a week, with Wednesday mornings off but threeâ€" hour sessions Saturday morning. Still, he says developing from within is one of only three ingredients imperative to the successful growth of a club to the stature of the B.C.â€"based Dolphin Swim and more local Etobicoke Swim Club. ‘‘These other clubs, they sell themselves, and I‘m positive Waterlooâ€"Kitchener can be a hotbed of swimming too. We‘ve got an excellent facility here at WLU, they give us the best times, we‘re all under one roof here. _ â€" ‘‘We‘ve just got to promote ourselves more, start hosting more highâ€"calibre meets, things like that. The club that thinks big will be the one to do big things." > . _Not only three or four years down the road, but also this weekend, maybe? > RICK CAMPBELL Allison Loucas