Sam Lasinski helped the KISU swim club reach strong results at the AAA provincial championship in Victoria earlier this month.
Lasinski brought home four medals, two bronze and two silvers, in the 1,500 and 50 metre free and 400 and 200 individual medley respectively. Lasinski also placed fourth in the 100-m and 200-m back stroke and had 100 per cent best times. He improved his 1,500 m free style by 27 seconds and the 400 IM by 23 seconds.
“It is a huge accomplishment that Sam wins both in the long distance events and in the short sprint events,” said KISU coach Tina Hoeben. “He also shows great talent in all the strokes by placing well in the IM events. It is a shame that there was a six-event limit at this meet. Lasinski’s split at the 100-m fly in the 400 IM would have placed him second in that event.”
Also representing the swim club were Brian MacPhail and Andrew Cooke. MacPhail enjoyed a best time to qualify for the 200-m fly and placed sixth. In the process, he trimmed two seconds from his original time.
“It was a gutsy swim with a very exciting finish,” said Hoeben. “He was also close to best times in a number of other swims – 0.09 from a best time in 100-m breast stroke, 0.30 in 100-m fly and 1.09 in his 200-m breast stroke.
The provincials marked the debut for Cooke who just recently re-classified as a Para-swimmer from an S7 to a S5. Because of that, he jumped from swimming at regional meets to qualifying for National level para swim meets.
“The Provincial meets have quite a different atmosphere with almost 650 swimmers and a girls swim meet running at one end, while a boys meet runs at the other end,” added Hoeben. “It is quite busy. Many swimmers are overwhelmed at their first provincials, but Cooke rose to the challenge, found another gear and accomplished some of his short-term goals. He went 100 per cent best times and made finals in the 100-m (seventh overall) and 50-m free (eighth overall).
KISU’s next event is a Triple Pentathlon March 11 to 13 and then the club takes a breather for spring break following a final practice on March 17.
