The Portage Sea Lions Swim Club was in one of the largest events in Manitoba last weekend.

The club had 3 swimmers in the 2015 Prairie Winter Invitational. Joseph McEwing, Tiah Snaith, and Jared Vachon were at the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg.

Sea Lions' Head Coach Rob Pehura explains it's a fairly large event.

"This year there was more or less about 600 swimmers, coming from as far West as Calgary, and as far East as Southern Ontario. For our kids it was really their first big, big meet like this, where they're able to see kids from all over the place this early in the season."

Pehura says it took a little coaxing to get his swimmers to attend.

"It's a really good event, and I had to do a little persuasion on some of them that it's a good opportunity to get into meets like this because they don't come along all the time. You can't always just swim in small local meets, you have to branch out and learn how to compete against some of the bigger programs, and see some swimmers that you're not really familiar with, and just get a better sense of where they're really at."

Pehura adds the swimmers did very well, as all three improved on their times in at least one of the events.