Local swimmer Bree Cooper had the opportunity to learn from Olympians in Vancouver on May 22 to 25.
Cooper was the only swimmer from Salmon Arm to participate in the Canada Cup swim meet. Although she had qualified for the meet several times before by reaching the time-performance standard set out by Swimming Canada, this was the first year she was able to attend. It gave her the opportunity to watch gold medal Olympic swimmers Missy Franklin, Rachel Bootsma and Caitlyn Leverenz.
This was Cooper’s first international swim meet and she took to the water for six events. Her best score was 34th out of 94 swimmers in the 50-m butterfly. She also managed to finish in the top 40 for the 100-m butterfly, the 50-m freestyle and 200-m butterfly.
Cooper said it was a treat to warm up and race in the same pool as the Olympians.
“It was fun to race people I have never raced before from different countries,” she explained. “The best part was seeing Missy Franklin and all of the other amazing swimmers compete.”
Cooper’s next focus will be the provincial championships in Victoria in early July. She’s also looking forward to returning to swim with the Salmon Arm Sockeyes this summer.
