YORKTON – The Yorkton Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner is scheduled for Sept. 7.
Among the five inductees of 2024 is Lori Pollock, set to be honoured in the athlete/builder category for synchronized swimming.
Pollock started her journey through the world of synchronized swimming when she was just nine years old and has spent forty years involved with the sport as an athlete and as a coach.
In interview with Â鶹ÊÓƵ.ca, Pollock said she was surprised and "quite honoured" upon hearing the news of the induction.
"Yorkton tends to support more of the sports that are the popular ones ... to look through the hall of fame and see so many artistic swimmers and synchronized swimmers ... it's pretty amazing that they're there to support the sports that aren't as popular," said Pollock.
Pollock said her initial draw to synchronized swimming was its uniqueness, noting the sport hadn't even been received at the Olympic level when she started in 1980.
Adding to that, Pollock said it was her coach, Lillian Britton, who was her most positive influence and what kept her in it.
"She taught me how to swim," said Pollock, adding, "Mrs. Britton is definitely a uniqe lady. I wouldn't be a synchronized swimmer without having Lillian Britton. I wouldn't have been a synchronized swimming coach if it hadn't been for Lillian Britton either."
Pollock said that her most memorable times involved in the sport weren't as an athlete, but rather as a coach during her time in Red Deer, Alta, where she was studying to become a nurse.
"When I went to Red Deer to nursing school I needed a job desperately so I went to the recreation centre and asked if they had synchro lessons or if I could get a job coaching synchro lessons and they put me in touch with the most amazing parents in Red Deer who had girls who'd just learned to swim — learned to synchro."
From those interactions with the parents, Pollock said there was just enough support to start a synchronized swimming club.
"I had a job all during nursing school by being the head coach of the Red Deer Synchro Club," said Pollock, adding, "that — to me — was a highlight because I had parents that trusted a 20-year-old kid who had no brain cells to run a club. Mrs. Britton had given me enough confidence so that I could do it and that — I think — that is my highest achievement."
Pollock went on to coach the Red Deer Synchro Club for five years from 1992-1997 while she worked through nursing school.
"They supported me all through my nursing education," said Pollock of the parents of the athletes in the club, adding, "they knew that when I was studying until 2:00 a.m. I would still make it to practice that day."
Now, many years later as a registered nurse working in an emergency department, Pollock is still active in the synchronized swimming community, having joined the Calgary Aquamum Masters Synchronized Swim Club in 1997.
"Synchro has masters competitions all over the world so I still compete plus I still coach some of the masters," said Pollock.
The swim club Pollock competes and coaches with have been to Australia, England and other parts of the world over the years. At the World FINA Masters Championship in Japan Pollock received two silver medals for team and combo events.
"In 2012 we were in Italy. 2017 we were in Budapest for a competition and then COVID hit and we missed going to Korea and weren't back until 2023 when we went to Japan," said Pollock.
Pollock said it is the camaraderie of the team that keeps her in it.
"Being part of that team — it's a very supportive environment — the team members are friends for life kind of thing ... that's probably what's kept me in this sport for 40 years," said Pollock.
And these days, Pollock said her team is always a positive influence.
"Our youngest members are 20-year-olds and our 85-year-olds are still swimming and competing with us. They're a pretty inspirational group of women. We have some ex-Olympians and we've got some who learned to swim when they were 50," said Pollock.
And on top of that, Pollock said the sport still has its health benefits.
"Obviously it's a good exercise because you spend half your life hypoxic and upside down spinning around," said Pollock with a laugh.
For information on the Yorkton Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner, visit their .
