The Williams Lake Blue Fins, with just eight swimmers, finished 15th overall in Kamloops during the weekend at the Swim BC ‘AA’ Provincial Championships.
Cristelle Panida, Andrew Haseldine and Abby Webb all had breakout meets as all three achieved ‘AAA’ provincial times in a number of swims.
Both Panida and Abby qualified to swim with the best in the province in two weeks in Victoria, while Haseldine was just one swim short of qualifying for the meet.
Panida finished eighth in the 100-metre freestyle, fourth in the 50-metre backstroke and earned a bronze medal in the 50-metre butterfly.
Haseldine was fourth in the 100-metre butterfly and swam to a gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly.
Taylor Fitzgerald, meanwhile, won the 200-metre backstroke by more than two body lengths ahead of second place and finished with a silver medal in the 50-metre back.
“Taylor was just a tenth of a second away from qualifying for the ‘AAA’ provincials,” said Blue Fins head coach Chad Webb.
Fellow teammate Cole Turner was eighth in the 50-metre backstroke, fifth in the 100-metre backstroke and claimed a bronze medal in the 50-metre backstroke and won gold in the 200-metre backstroke.
Kara Zavitz also won a gold medal in her 200-metre backstroke swim, was eighth in the 200-metre individual medley, fourth in the 100-metre backstroke and third in the 50-metre backstroke.
Keanna Saunders was sixth in the 50-metre breaststroke and seventh in the 400-metre individual medley with a number of ‘B’ finals (top 16), as well.
Liam McCreight also had many solid swims, Webb said, narrowly missing ‘B’ finals in a few events.
Coming up for the Blue Fins is the BC Summer Games in just four weeks where Fitzgerald and Saunders will be attending.
Abby and Panida, meanwhile, are preparing for their ‘AAA’ provincial debut in two weeks.
