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Stroke of brilliance

Williams Lake Blue Fins swimmers competed in their first swim meet in nine months
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Abby Webb (left), Keanna Saunders, Taylor Fitzgerald, Isabelle Knox and Cristelle Panida all swam extremely well, bringing home two gold medals as a team.

Swimmers from Williams Lake were no fish out of water at a swim meet this weekend, despite having literally been out of the water due to pool closures.

The Blue Fins competed at a swim meet in Prince George on Nov. 18-19 and were able to pull off a third place finish, with some of the twenty-three swimmers having exceptional personal performances as well.

“They raced very well especially considering our swimmers have had very little water time compared to every other club,” said head coach Chad Webb in an email. With the Sam Ketcham Pool being closed down for renovations, the swimmers missed about six months of practice in the last year he added.

However, seeing the Blue Fins in action this weekend, you would never know they’d missed so much training.

The swimmer of the meet award went to Rebecca Elefson who shaved over a minute off of her individual swim times. Rebecca has been working very hard in the last month since the pool re-opened and her improvements were obvious to everyone.

Abby Webb, Keanna Saunders, Taylor Fitzgerald, Isabelle Knox, and Cristelle Panida came together in the 4X50 medley and free relays to “destroy the competition” said Webb, and take home two gold medals as a team in the Girls 13 and 14 division. They also set a new club record in the medley relay which was a whole seven seconds faster than the second place team from Prince George.

The Blue Fins took home one gold and one silver medal in the Girls 11 and 12 relay division thanks to quick swims and maximum effort by Morgan Langford, Abby Webb, Gabby Knox, Cristelle Panida, and Maya Nowotny.

And the quick strokes and powerful kicks of Emma-Grace MacDonald, Jordyn Stokes, Montana Waters, and Rowan Smith are to thank for shiny silver and bronze medals in the Girls 10 & Under relay category.

Overall, all the swimmers competed extremely well, showing improvements and dedication to the sport.

Up next for the Blue Fins is their annual Christmas tree fundraiser. The team will be out next weekend to harvest trees in preparation for the season of giving.