With temperatures and wind-chill values dipping well below zero this week, it’s hard to imagine anything associated with swimming, but members of the Aberdeen Swim Club have been gearing up for their annual Winter High Point Swim Meet.

The event takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Aberdeen Family Y. Action starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday for 11-12 aged girls and 13 and over boys and girls, and at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:45 p.m. Sunday for 11-12 boys and all 10 and under swimmers.

Teams competing include Aberdeen, Dakota Riptide (Huron and Mitchell), Pierre, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Yankton, Marshall, Minn., and Willmar, Minn.

Aberdeen Swim Club coach Lisa Jorgenson said swimming in the middle of winter is just second nature to the competitors who practice multiple times a week.

“The senior group, that sounds really ridiculous, but they left the Barnett Center (Wednesday) night and they have their parkas on and they have a towel around them and they go,” she said. “We’re just really used to it.”

The water temperature in the pool this weekend will in fact be a bit cooler than normal, but there’s a reason behind that.

“They kind of regulate the water temperature so it’s probably a little bit colder than what we practice in, just because that’s good for competition,” Jorgenson said. “The biggest thing is probably staying warm when they’re not swimming.”

It’s been a year of growth for ASC because of the Olympic Summer Games, which has followed past trends.

“We had 27 new swimmers join our team this year. I would say we had a little bit of the ‘Olympic bump,’ ” Jorgenson said. “We kind of jokingly say, nobody knows anything about swimming except for like every four years. It’s the biggest thing during the Olympics, so we usually get a good number of kids added to our team after any Olympics. We did see that this year.”

The Sting Rays have been working hard to bring the new members up to speed and put them in a position where they can have qualified times.

“We had a really big group of kids join and I think it’s always a goal for us to get legal swims,” Jorgenson said. “We have everyone from the age of 5 up to 18, so the 5-year-olds we’re trying to get their different strokes legal so that their times count. We’re always looking towards the state meets to have more qualifers.”

This year’s winter indoor state meet for 12 and under swimmers is Feb. 25-27 in Pierre, and for those 13 and older it is March 4-6 in Mitchell.

This year’s squad features seven seniors, which is the most for an Aberdeen team in the past decade.

“It’s a great group of seniors,” Jorgenson said, “so I want them to have a great final home meet.”

The meet is the only home winter meet of the season for the Sting Rays.

Jorgenson said that alone makes it special as the swimmers get a chance to swim in front of family, friends and teachers.

She encourages everyone to come out and support the local competitors and get a chance to see what the Aberdeen Swim Club is all about.

“We just really hope that people come out and watch. A swim meet is just eye-opening for people,” Jorgenson said. “I jokingly say everybody watches the Olympics, but if you put a normal swimmer in with them you would realize how fast (the Olympians) are. I think it’s just something that is exciting and it’s different. The kids put a lot of work into their season and it’s fun to have people come and watch, and cheer them on.”