Registration now open for 2025 for Taber Viper Swim Club

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Taber Times

By Garrett Simmons
For Taber Times

It’s almost time for the Taber Viper Swim Club to jump into the pool for another season.

Registration opened Monday (March 3) for the 2025 season, a campaign that will be highlighted by a big hometown swim meet from July 4-5, as Taber will host the Southern Alberta Summer Games. It’s the first time Taber has hosted the Games since 2018.

“The meet is two full days,” said swim club president Maria Hughes.

“Friday will be preliminaries with finals on Saturday. This year we expect to have over 200 swimmers competing in varying lengths of freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke, individual medley and various relays.”

Roughly 80-100 volunteers and coaches are required each day to pull off the event.

“Our club is in charge of coordinating volunteers for the meet and feeding all of the coaches and volunteers both days,” said Hughes, who added swimmers love attending the SASG because it is formatted the same as the regional championship meet— with preliminaries one day and finals the next day. “It is a great opportunity to prepare for regionals and get a feel for how regional championships will operate.”

The journey to the Games starts with registration, as swimmers can sign up through the club’s new website at http://www.tabervipers.com.

“The website contains general information and frequently asked questions,” said Hughes. “It will have a link to our registration portal. It is easy to remember, so we’re hoping people can quickly and easily access information.

The club had approximately 60 swimmers last year, which included five in the Masters category.

“This is near capacity for us but we can always accommodate more Master swimmers because Masters train on their own,” said Hughes, who added the Vipers rely on recruitment in the Rookies category (ages 5-10) to ensure the club remains viable. “There are approximately 20 Rookie spots each year but some spots are taken by second-year rookies. We would love to recruit more Masters swimmers.”

Head coach Dion Velarde will return for a third season. Velarde started swimming with the Vipers at age 12 and has been a lifeguard at the Taber Aquafun Center for several years.

“He graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 2023 and is now attending the University of Alberta during the school year,” said Hughes. “Dion is an exceptionally-strong swimmer and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our club.”

Assistant coach Adi Hutzul will return for a second season. She started swimming with the club at four years old and has excelled at the provincial championship meet year after year.

“She is also a lifeguard and had the opportunity to compete with Team Canada at the Orange Cup in the Netherlands last fall,” said Hughes.

“The Orange Cup is an international lifesaving swimming competition.”

Rookie coach/assistant coach will be Taylor Hutzul, who is also in year two. She began swimming with the Taber Vipers at age six and is also a lifeguard. Assistant Rookie Coach, Haley Roeda is currently attending high school at Taber Christian High School and has her National Lifeguard certification. This is her fourth year swimming with the Vipers and her first year coaching.

The head coach from last year, Kristen Irvine, will also be helping Vipers coaches in July as they prepare our swimmers for regionals and provincials.

“Kris was a competitive swimmer with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns and coached the Taber Vipers for the past eight years,” said Hughes. “She is currently coaching swimmers in the Cayman Islands in a year-round program but will be back in Canada for the month of July.”

For the new season, Rookies, who swim in May and June, there is a $200 registration fee and a $200 fundraising fee. Junior, Intermediate and Senior swimmers hit the pool from May to August. Registration is $400 and the fundraising fee is $400. Masters swimmers pay $125 and practice on their own time.

But no matter what age category you are in, Hughes added there are a ton of benefits to joining the club.

“Making friends within our club and region, significant improvement in swimming ability, improved physical fitness, enhanced confidence and self-esteem and the thrill of competition,” are just a few benefits, according to Hughes. “Swimming carries minimal risk of injury, so it is fantastic cross training for other sports. Most of our swimmers go on to become lifeguards and easily pass their lifeguard certifications.”

The club also welcomes a wide variety of skill levels.

“Some swimmers are very competitive, while others simply want to improve their skills and are less interested in competing,” said Hughes. “There are swim meets most weekends starting the last weekend in May and ending with provincials August long weekend. All swim meets are optional but we find most swimmers want to attend meets because they are a lot of fun and the element of competition really pushes them to improve.”

Visit http://www.tabervipers.com for more information.