The Humboldt Hammerheads held their annual awards banquet on September 11th this year.

Every year they hand out awards to their athletes for their achievements and attitudes throughout the year. What everyone should know, is that it's never easy to decide who should receive these awards. Every year, the coaches struggle to decide who should be recognized. Not because we have trouble finding someone worthy of them, but because we have so many worthy candidates each year.

The High Point awards are decided by the number of points generated by each swimmer in the year. As their team gets stronger and faster, their swimmers are generating more points. This is showing in their meet standings every weekend. They are a force to be beat. This is also showing in their year end awards, as the race for High Point is getting closer each year.

High Point Female, this year's winner, for an unprecedented sixth year in a row is Maya Berschied.

High Point Male this year is winner Justin Berschied.

The Top Novice Award goes to the first year competitive swimmer who generated the most points. This year the Top Novice Award was decided by just two points, which points to a strong future for our club. The award this year goes to Abbey McLarty.

Swimming is the never ending search for perfection and efficiency, and improving personal best times is a great way to track the milestones. The Most Improved Swimmers have to have improved their best times in at least three events from last year, and they take an average of those improvements.

They have three awards in this category. Most Improved Female and Male under 12, and Most Improved Senior. They saw large amounts of improvement in 12 and under swimmers as their coordination and endurance improve, as well as stroke technique just suddenly clicks.
Honourable mentions for Most Improved Female are Shae Fraser with 16.51 seconds, and Zoe Plemel with 17.56 seconds improved this summer. The award goes to Aidra Angelstad with an average of 18.77 seconds improved.

Honourable mention for Most Improved Male is Darren Romanuik with 5.87 seconds. The award goes to Dallin Fraser with an average of 6.18 seconds improved.

Improvements in the 13 and over age tend to be in smaller increments, as the swimmers have the majority of the techniques down, and are working on minor adjustments to specific parts of their races. But, sometimes they surprise. Honourable mentions for improved Senior swimmer are Lauren Hinz with 10.25 seconds, and Jay Eichorst with 11.25 seconds. The award goes to Garret Brown, with an average of 13.38 seconds improved.

The Guppy Award goes to the first year swimmer who doesn't compete. This swimmer is learning the very beginning of movements in the water and the basics of the strokes that we will continue to build on. They may go from the basics of floating and breathing in the water, to showing sign of a distinctive stroke within one season. A big thank you to the Junior coaches this year for their time and effort teaching these little swimmers. This year’s Guppy Award is presented to Rebecca Gabriel.

The Congeniality Award goes to the swimmer who has rapport with everyone, fellow swimmers, coaches and parents. Their positive influence makes practices and meets more enjoyable for all involved. Generally, just an enjoyable person to be around, smiling and happy. This year the Congeniality Award goes to Abbie Cannon.

The Most Dedicated Swimmer is the athlete who comes to as many practices as possible, and works hard to improve. A little bit of self-motivation to keep going is usually shown as well. This year's Most Dedicated Swimmer is Lauryn MacLean.

The Family Award goes to recognize a family that not only has their swimmers to the pool, but dedicates more than that to the club. The swimmers in this family are dedicated and listen to their coaches, they enjoy meets and are fun to be around. The parents volunteer at almost every swim meet in some capacity, and support the whole team at meets. This year, the Family Award goes to the Hinz's.

The Coach's Award goes to the swimmers who may not have been the most improved, or received a high point award, but embody the characteristics that we encourage in our team. They listen to their coaches when correcting their strokes, and giving them funny drills to do. They encourage other swimmers, and try their hardest in every situation. The face their difficulties, and do their best to move ahead.
This year's coaches awards go to: Ella Schlachter, Tessa Cannon, Chase Hall and Jordan Neinaber.

They had a swimmer break a provincial record this year. Michael Carnago took .19 seconds off of the 100m backstroke record that was last set in 2006.