A group of 11 Blue Fins traveled to Kelowna for the Swim BC Divisional Championships in late June.
This meet featured the top swimmers from the north and interior regions, and with only eight spots up for grabs in finals, the competition was fierce.
“Our team did a great job not only qualifying for those final swims, but also improving on their morning swims and making those evening swims count” said Coach Amanda Nemeth. “There were a number of too-close-to-call finishes, which speaks to the level of competition and made for some really exciting racing.”
The Blue Fins raced their way into 41 top eight spots, with 11 individual and two relay podium finishes.
Jordyn Stokes had a very strong performance over the weekend, sweeping the podium in all three backstroke swims, bringing home the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke, the silver in the 50-metre and the bronze in the 200-metre.
Joining her at the top of the podium was Braedi Hamar, winning gold in the girls 200-metre butterfly and silver in the 100-metre fly. Dylan DeRose also medaled in both of his butterfly events, with a silver in both the 50 and 100, as well as a bronze in the 50-metre backstroke.
In what was one of the more challenging events of the weekend, both Gavin Reedman and Rebecca Elefson raced their way to silver medals in their respective age groups in the 400-metre Intermediate Medley.
“At the end of two long, hard days of racing, seeing these two to step up and push as hard as they did in what is one of the most mentally gruelling events there is, was really motivating for the rest of the team,” said Nemeth. “Rebecca turning around and following that up with a medal-winning relay performance 20 minutes later was really impressive.” Gavin also brought home a silver for the 200-metre backstroke.
The 15 and over girls relay teams of, Braedi Hamar, Jordyn Stokes, Rebecca Elefson, Jadyn Grant (freestyle) and Aliya Grant (medley) hit the podium for both the freestyle and medley relays, taking home the bronze medal for both events.
For Hunter Stokes, Annica Stalker, Niomi Neufeld and Tiera French, this was their first season swimming competitively.
“Meets can be pretty overwhelming, especially at the championship level, but the rookies did an outstanding job staying focused and swimming well. It was great to see so many improvements not only in best times but also in their rankings. And the support for these swimmers from the rest of the team was pretty incredible.”
The Blue Fins are back in the pool training for a number of meets coming up in July: BC Summer Games (PG), Provincials (Vancouver), Far Westerns (California) and Senior Nationals (Montreal).
Read more: Williams Lake Blue Fins swim to a great finish in Prince George
Read more: Williams Lake Blue Fins net some results at provincials
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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