The Yellowknife Polar Bear Swim Club has been providing competitive swimming opportunities for youth in Yellowknife since 1970. 

We train in the city of Yellowknife's five-lane Ruth Inch Memorial Pool and host regular time trials and competitions with other clubs in the Northwest Territories.

NWT swimming clubs are affiliated with Swim Alberta and are therefore ranked among Alberta Swim Clubs and compete in Alberta Provincial Swim Meets as well as other regional swimming championships. The Polar Bear Swim Club has produced several age group national swimmers and consistently has swimmers qualify for the Canada and Western Canada Games. In the last decade, eight of our swimmers have also gone on to compete at the CIS level in university, three of them as team captains, and two of our swimmers have taken part in Olympic time trials. 

We are a non-profit organization and rely on the help and support of our volunteer coaches to keep our level of competition at its highest, and to provide fun and skillful swimming instruction.

Yellowknife Aquatic Centre

The Yellowknife Polar Bear Swim Club is in support of the city's new Aquatic Centre. In particular, we support the construction of a 50 m pool so that we can grow our club and continue to produce excellent athletes. For further information, contact Sara Minogue at 867-446-1432.

Admissions

The swim club currently has about 75 swimmers training at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool during the times that are available to our club. Because most of our swimmers return each season, there are very few opportunities to admit new swimmers to our club and those who are admitted are often restricted by age or gender (so they can literally fit into the lanes). 

The swim club board is actively seeking ways to expand our swimmer intake, including negotiating with other pool user groups to expand the times available to us. 

In the 2018/2019 the club launched a fall Polar Pup swim program in order to broaden the opportunity for young swimmers to train and learn with us for eight weeks without becoming full season members. We are also working on expanding our Swim for Life program for teenagers and a Masters program for those 18 and older. Please watch this website for details on how to take part. 

Board of Directors & club positions for 2019-2020 season

Our volunteer board is made up of swim parents and is here to serve you. 

President - Rémy Leclerc
Vice President - Ebony Duru
Treasurer - Renee Lelievre
Secretary - Meagan Wowk
PR/Communications - Sara Minogue
Equipment Manager - vacant
Fundraising Coordinator - vacant
Travel Manager - David Shears
Registrar - Carolina Rojas
Social Committee - Frances Bower
Electronic and Meet Manager - Dean Hendrickson
Head Coach - Carol Lockhart
Conflict Resolution - vacant
Officials Coordinator - Lea Barbosa Leclerc

The board meets the second Thursday of each month at K'alemi Dene School in N'dilo. All board meetings are open to all club members. 

How to reach us

For questions related to workouts, meets, events, goal setting, and other swimming related needs, contact one of the coaches. For questions related to administrative, such as dues, safety, or policy issues, please contact one of the board members. Email saraminogue@gmail.com if you need help to reach the right person.

Media queries

If you're a member of the media and need to speak to someone sooner, please call Sara at 867-446-1432.