In their first full competition of the season, members of the Ravensong Breakers swim team were right on their marks. And better.
“It’s going well; we’re probably at about 90 per cent best times,” new Breakers coach Byron Trajan said Saturday after the first round of the two-day Nanaimo Riptide Invitational meet. “I think anything 75 per cent and up is a good rate of best time, or improvement.”
The club opened the season in a small meet in Comox two weeks earlier, but last weekend’s meet at Nanaimo Aquatic Centre drew hundreds of swimmers representing all of the clubs on Vancouver Island.
The unique format pit swimmers based on seed times, rather than age or gender. That placed standout 11-year-old Camryn Stannard, a Canadian age-group record-holder, in heats against a mix of boys and girls up to 18 years old.
“Most of our swim meets they won’t do it this way; they’ll divide swimmers based on their age and gender,” said Trajan. “The advantage of this is when they seed you based on your time, regardless of age or gender, you should have a lot of competition around your level.”
Veronica Hall of the Ravensong Breakers Aquatic Club swims the butterfly portion of the 200 individual medley during the Nanaimo Icebreakers Invitational Meet Saturday at Nanaimo Aquatic Centre. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
Stannard easily won the 11-under races in all seven of her events. In two of them, the 100-metre freestyle and the 50 butterfly, was fastest overall among girls of any age.
Lochlan Rogers, also 11, won six events and was second in two others. Other winners included Jakob Brager and Nick Bennett 12-13 boys) , Jenna Horton (11-under girls) and Megan Romkes (16-under girls). Parksville’s Haley Bennett, swimming for the UVic-PCS club, was also a multiple winner among 16-under girls.
But the meet was less about wins than the swimmers getting a chance to improve their previous best times in a competitive setting.
And nearly all of them were up to the task.
“I’ve actually been breaking these times like nothing. All of them,” said Ethan Stannard, 14, who competed in the B.C. Summer Games last year.
“It’s shocking, because I didn’t do this good at the beginning of last season, and I got better and better throughout the year. Now I’m realizing I may get even better this year.”
Ethan Stannard of the Ravensong Breakers Aquatic Club swims the butterfly portion of the 200 individual medley during the Nanaimo Icebreakers Invitational Meet Saturday at Nanaimo Aquatic Centre. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
The meet was also a chance for newcomers, like eight-year-olds Atea Olson and Johnathan Howse, to get their feet wet in their first competitions.
The small but high-powered club placed fifth overall among 10 teams, with 1403.5 points.
The next meet on the schedule is the Remembrance Day weekend Bennett Cup, Nov. 11-13 at Saanich Commonwealth Place.
Nanaimo Riptides Fall Invitational Meet
At Nanaimo Aquatic Centre
Oct. 29-30
Ravensong Breakers results
Girls
9-under
100 metre freestyle — 22. Atea Olson, 2 minutes, 20.51 seconds. 50 freestyle — 22. Olson, 1:02.72. 50 backstroke — 19. Olson, 1:09.28.
10-11
100 freestyle — 1. Camryn Stannard, 1:00.30; 19. Evelyn Confortin, 1:22.05. 50 butterfly — 1. Stannard, 30.01; 2. Jenna Horton, 32.71; 6. Confortin, 40.31. 100 butterfly — 1. Stannard, 1:07.51; 2. Horton, 1:18.19; 16. Confortin, 1:42.31. 50 breast stroke — 11. Confortin, 53.70. 50 freestyle — 1. Stannard, 28.39; 3. Horton, 31.13; 18. Confortin, 36.90. 50 backstroke — 18. Confortin, 45.68. 100 breast stroke — 1. Stannard, 1:22.00; 2. Horton, 1:28.38; 29. Confortin, 1:55.70.
11-under
200 breast stroke — 1. Horton, 3:06.72. 200 individual medley — 1. Stannard, 2:33.63. 200 backstroke — 1. Stannard, 2:32.18. 200 freestyle — 1. Horton, 2:29.43. 200 butterfly — 1. Horton, 3:00.73
12-13
100 freestyle — 10. Veronica Hall, 1:08.30; 36. Jayde Herr, 1:16.74; 39. Aida Hall, 1:17.23; 44. Raeli VanDusen, 1:22.32. 50 butterfly — 10. VanDusen, 45.22. 100 backstroke — 28. Herr, 1:31.63; 32. A. Hall, 1:35.63; 36. VanDusen, 1:42.32. 200 IM — 12. V. Hall, 2:53.29. 100 butterfly — 13. V. Hall, 1:19.33; 31. Herr, 1:35.19; 38. VanDusen, 1:44.76. 50 breast stroke — 11. Herr, 45.04; 21. VanDusen, 53.34. 50 freestyle — 17. V. Hall, 31.93; 37. Herr, 34.81; 41. A. Hall, 36.27; 44. VanDusen, 37.69. 200 freestyle — 15. V. Hall, 2:31.14. 50 backstroke — 8. Herr, 40.97. 100 breast stroke — 27. A. Hall, 1:54.48. 400 freestyle — 11. V. Hall, 5:18.49; 20. Herr, 5:49.86.
14-15
100 freestyle — 18. Alexandra Roberts, 1:07.73; 20. Jordyn Shields, 1:08.10; 25. Montana Krieger, 1:08.86; 35. Sydney Raduy, 1:13.03. 50 butterfly — 12. Shields, 35.11; 15. Roberts, 37.05; 17. Raduy, 38.08. 100 backstroke — 23. Raduy, 1:23.25; 27. Krieger, 1:26.61. 100 butterfly — 19. Shields, 1:23.24. 50 breast stroke — 6. Shields, 43.30; 8. Roberts, 45.31; 9. Krieger, 45.41. 50 freestyle — 22. Shields, 31.16; 24. Krieger, 31.32; 30. Raduy, 32.27; 32. Roberts, 32.35. 200 freestyle — 2. Roberts, 2:18.66; 10. Krieger, 2:31.47; 12. Shields, 2:37.74; 14. Raduy, 2:40.91. 50 backstroke — 7. Shields, 37.48; 11. Raduy, 38.73; 12. Roberts, 39.56; 14. Krieger, 42.29. 100 breast stroke — 9. Shields, 1:33.31. 400 freestyle — 2. Roberts, 4:46.59; 12. Krieger, 5:14.81.
16-over
100 freestyle — 1. Haley Bennett, UVic-PCS, 1:00.96; 3. Megan Romkes, 1:02.46. 50 butterfly — 1. Romkes, 30.57; 2. Bennett, 31.10. 200 IM — 1. Bennett, 2:29.40. 100 butterfly — 2. Romkes, 1:07.71. 50 breast stroke — 3. Romkes, 39.20. 50 freestyle — 1. Romkes, 28.58. 200 freestyle — 1. Bennett, 2:09.01. 50 backstroke — 1. Romkes, 34.64. 200 butterfly — 1. Romkes, 2:33.77. 400 freestyle — 1. Bennett, 4:32.54.
Boys
9-under
100 freestyle — 4. Fischer Swanson, 1:48.76; 8. Jonathan Howse, 2:06.80. 100 backstroke — 6. Swanson, 2:06.23; Spencer Nardi, 3:14.77.
10-11
100 freestyle — 1. Lochlan Rogers, 1:06.10. 100 backstroke — 1. Rogers, 1:18.26. 50 breast stroke — 1. Rogers, 42.32. 50 freestyle — 2. Rogers, 30.11. 50 backstroke — 2. Rogers, 36.44. 100 breast stroke — 1. Rogers, 1:30.96.
11-under
200 IM — 1. Rogers, 2:52.39. 200 freestyle — 1. Rogers, 2:28.98.
12-13
100 freestyle — 2. Jakob Brager, 1:01.24; 3. Jakob Mbobela, 1:03.57; 8. Nick Bennett, 1:04.20; 22. Ben Roberts, 1:10.67; 28. Tyson Krieger, 1:13.30. 50 butterfly — 1. Brager, 31.07; 4. Mbobela, 33.98; 8. Krieger, 39.31. 100 backstroke — 1. Brager, 1:06.20; 3. Mbobela, 1:14.83; 18. Roberts, 1:20.66; 28. Krieger, 1:28.81. 200 IM — 3. Bennett, 2:39.49. 100 butterfly — 6. Mbobela, 1:17.43. 50 breast stroke — 1. Bennett, 35.79; 2. Mbobela, 38.68; 3. Brager, 38.74; 8. Roberts, 44.26; 12. Krieger, 48.07. 200 backstroke — 1. Brager, 2:21.59; 11. Roberts, 2:52.18. 50 freestyle — 2. Bennett, 28.44; 3. Brager, 28.74; 4. Mbobela, 28.91; 22. Roberts, 32.02; 32. Krieger, 34.32. 200 freestyle — 2. Brager, 2:13.57; 3. Bennett, 2:16.68; 10. Roberts, 2:32.98; 12. Krieger, 2:35.20. 50 backstroke — 1. Brager, 31.85; 2. Mbobela, 33.23; 6. Roberts, 37.68; 9. Krieger, 41.51. 100 breast stroke — 2. Bennett, 1:20.18; 10. Roberts, 1:38.49. 400 freestyle — 6. Mbobela, 5:05.24; 10. Krieger, 5:27.50.
14-15
100 freestyle — 6. Jack Confortin, 1:00.59; 14. Ethan Stannard, 1:03.31. 50 butterfly — 3. Confortin, 30.85; 6. Stannard, 33.89. 200 IM — 5. Confortin, 2:33.22; 11. Stannard, 2:39.97. 100 butterfly — 6. Confortin, 1:07.89. 50 breast stroke — 6. Stannard, 39.86. 50 freestyle — 8. Confortin, 28.18; 16. Stannard, 29.75. 200 freestyle — 2. Confortin, 2:07.48; 6. Stannard, 2:14.50. 400 freestyle — 2. Confortin, 4:25.97; 5. Stannard, 4:38.84.
