Over the Jan. 28-29 weekend, the Williams Lake Blue Fins Swim Club hosted their biggest home meet ever with close to 150 swimmers competing, including 90 swimmers from Prince George, Kamloops and Vernon.
Saturday was a very busy day with the pre-competitive swimmers getting the opportunity to join in on the fun.
“This was a first meet experience for most of these swimmers, and we were so impressed at how well they navigated the swim meet chaos. We saw a lot of young swimmers being brave, stepping out of their comfort zones, and leaving the water happy and proud of their achievements. It doesn’t get much better than that,” said assistant head coach Amanda Nemeth.
Sunday’s big highlight was the Intermediate Medley Showdown, where the top six 200m intermediate medley (IM) swimmers from each age group and gender raced their way to victory (and gift cards) in the 100m IM. Qualifying for this event were: Lilly Reedman, Solphia Ulrich, Elise Jonasson, Annica Stalker, Eleanor Dean, Jasper Bird, Gavin Reedman, Julien Allaire, Aliya Grant, Jordyn Stokes, Morgan Langford, Rebecca Elefson, Dylan DeRose and Alex Walker. Taking home the win in their respective age and gender categories were Annica Stalker, Gavin Reedman, Morgan Langford and Dylan DeRose. Morgan also raced her way to a new club record with her winning swim. “The showdown is a staple of our meet, and something all the swimmers look forward to qualifying for,” said head coach Chad Webb. “Having so many Blue Fins qualify to compete this year made the entire event even more exciting for our team.”
Julien Allaire had a fantastic weekend, qualifying to compete at Divisional Championships in the 50 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly and 200 IM. Also adding to their list of qualified events for Divisional Championships were Elise Jonasson (200 IM) and Gavin Reedman (100 Free, 100 Breast). Joining them at this championship meet in Kamloops next weekend are: Annica Stalker, Dylan Derose, Aliya Grant, Jadyn Grant, Rebecca Elefson, and Jordyn Stokes.
The coach-awarded Swimmers of the Meet recognition went to Aliya Grant from the senior group and Lilly Reedman from the junior group. “Both of these swimmers stepped up and gave their all for every single event, and we were really impressed by their results,” said Webb.
The ‘Fins are back in the water training hard, with back-to-back championship meets quickly approaching, including Divisional, Provincial and Western Canadian Championships all within the next five weeks.
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