Williams Lake Blue Fins head coach Chad Webb said it was another great weekend for the club as it hosted its annual Cariboo Dental Clinic Smoke on the Water Swim Meet.
In all, more than 100 swimmers with 75 attending from Kamloops, Quesnel and Prince George took part.
“Our meet sponsors and volunteers made the meet another huge success as Kamloops chose to come up to the lakecity for the meet again, even though their region has many other options for them,” Webb said.
Successfully completing their first legal, sanctioned 100-metre individual medley were Alex Walker, Annica Stalker and Hazel Pare.
“That’s a very tough event for the 10 and under swimmers with lots of rules and these three trained very hard in order to be entered into this swim,” he said. “It was a big accomplishment for them and it’s a big step towards the next training group.”
The Blue Fins’ 10 and under relays were fantastic, Webb noted, as the teams finished second, third and fourth in the free relays.
READ MORE: Blue Fins host largest meet in club history
Abbie Kotyk, Will Gauley, Annica Stalker and Saphira Hohert were second, Gavin Reedman, Maya Robinson, Hazel Pare and Tiera French were third, while the fourth-place team consisted of Sophia Ulrich, Alex Walker, Rachel Butt and Hunter Stokes.
Saphira Hohert, meanwhile, had an incredible weekend, Webb said, with 100 per cent best times and challenging herself to swim some harder races for the first time including the 200-metre individual medley and the 400-metre freestyle.
Hohert also swam the 200-metre backstroke for the first time, coming within one second of a provincial qualifying time for that event.
“Saphira has really pushed herself to train hard these last few months, and her results this weekend reflect that,” Webb said.
Also, in what is considered to be one of the toughest races to swim, Isabelle Groundwater, Braedi Hamar and Aliya Grant stepped up at the end of the weekend to compete in the 200-metre butterfly.
Hamar and Grant not only swam to best times, but also both qualified for provincials in their respective age groups for the event.
Ashtynn Cullum and Phoenix Stafford qualified for the IM Subway Showdown event in their first time ever swimming the 200-metre IM.
READ MORE: Blue Fins making final preparations for respective provincial championships
“They were in the top six in the 200 IM to qualify for the event and both swam the 100 IM Showdown to a sixth place finish,” Webb said.
Ethan Butt also qualified for the Showdown and finished in fourth place, just missing the top three prizes of Subway gift cards.
sports@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter