Splash & Dash Time Trial
An exciting weekend for our club with our first “meet” of the year: the Splash & Dash Time Trial! Open to our Junior and Senior swimmers, this was a great opportunity for our athletes to step up and race a few events, see where they are and how close to their goals they’ve gotten after the last couple months of training.
For our Junior 1’s Saturday was all about having fun and showing off. These kids have improved significantly since the season started, and this was their chance to shine. It was fun watching them step up to race some of our senior swimmers with all the confidence in the world. Being a short meet, many of our swimmers raced in back-to-back heats and our Juniors handled it like seasoned pro’s. Way to go Hunter Stokes, Annica Stalker, Maya Robinson, Hazel Pare and Will Gauley – you all did such a great job!
Our Junior 2’s worked hard to get close to Regional qualifying times, while for our Senior 1’s many were testing out their speed while also working to incorporate all the skills and techniques they’ve been working so hard on. Ashtynn Cullum and Saphira Hohert are now both very close to the new Regional times for the 200m backstroke, and we are excited to see both of them continue to reach for those times. This was also Ian Foster’s first swim competition ever, not that you’d have been able to tell. Not only did he catch on quickly, but he stepped up to the challenge of racing the 200m freestyle, got out of the pool and went on to race the 400m freestyle in the next heat!
For our Senior 2 & 3’s, most were aiming for best times, while a handful had their eyes fixed on our record board. Jadyn Johnston and Cale Murdock set the tone in the first race of the day, battling hard in the 100m Backstroke, both coming in under the record, with Jadyn ultimately taking the title of record breaker. Jadyn then followed up that victory with another Backstroke record, this time in the 200m. Cale didn’t let that phase him though, ately setting new records for the 100 IM and the 200 Freestyle, beating a 25 year-old record! Not to be outdone, Taylor Fitzgerald smashed the record for the 100 IM; Taylor now holds the records for the 100, 200 and 400 IM’s for a clean sweep in that category, and has an incredible 9 individual records. In the final race of the day - as the lone swimmer - Braedi Hamar stepped up for the 1500m Freestyle, and smashed the old record by a minute! In a fantastic display of sportsmanship, a couple of her teammates opted to hop in and swim in the lanes beside her, giving her someone to race and to keep her on pace - 20 minutes is a long time to try to race yourself! This was Braedi’s first individual record and the excitement in the building as she fought for that record was tangible.
We are so proud of all of the swimmers who participated in our first time trial of the season - and our first competition in just over 7 months! We would also like to thank all of our parent volunteers for helping with timing, set up and take down, coffee delivery for coaches, and for supporting and cheering on not only their athletes, but our whole team. It is because of your help that we are able to have events like these, you are appreciated!
**Photo Credit: Greg Sabatino, Williams Lake Tribune