In the fast lane at 40: N.L.'s largest swim team looking to grow

The biggest swim team in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador wants to fill up the lanes and hopestoattract 50 new young swimmers.

The St. John's Legend grew 20 per cent last year from the 2015-2016 season, seeing itsmembershiprise to 200.

"This year we have the capacity to grow to 250 athletes," head coach Dave Ling said.

"We are hoping for most of our growth to be on that novice level."

Part of the reason for the increase is the completion of the brand new pool at the Paul Reynolds Centre. The extra pool space means the team can push for more swimmers.

"We are able to expand some of our programsand expand our offerings deeper into the community," Ling said.

Hot on the heels of Penny Oleksiak's success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, something Ling calls the "OleksiakBump," the popularity of the sport began to rise across Canada as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Ling is now setting his sights on finding young swimmers to represent the province.

"We are looking at St. John's hosting the 2025 Canada Games, and the swimmers that will be eligible are boys born in 2009 and later or girls born in 2010 andlater,' Ling said.

"We are trying to identify those kids now by offering as many programs as we can to cast a wide net and hopefully find the next Canada Games swimmers to represent our province."

To try to identify that talent, the team is hosting open tryouts Monday at the Paul ReynoldsCentre.

On top of the team's plan to expand its roster, the Legends will celebrate their 40th anniversary this season. Ling said the team will celebrate its past while still keepingsights on the future.

Last year the Legends set 55 provincial records. The team alsohasthree swimmers competing at the senior national level, the highest competition in the country.