The swim team from Earl Marriott Secondary School know all about the meaning of having a ‘banner day.’
On Oct. 26th, 45 swimmers from the high school in South Surrey swam their way to first place at the Fraser Valley Regional High School Swim Meet.
It was the second year in a row that Earl Marriott has wound up on top in the regional competition, and they got some help from a specific group of athletes.
The junior boys and junior girls teams featuring athletes in grades eight to ten were the shining stars of the swim meet. Both groups of athletes won the banners in their categories, propelling Earl Marriott to the title.
After their recent success on the regional circuit, the swim team is hoping that success will carry over to the provincial level.
“We’re optimistic about our team,” said swim team coordinator Catherine Cooke. “Based on how we did at regionals this year, we have no reason not to be optimistic.”
While there are a number of individual events, Earl Marriott focuses on the relays portion of swimming events. This year, they’ve entered in 29 different relay teams for the B.C. High School Provincial Swim Meet, which takes place at Watermania in Richmond on Nov. 17th and 18th.
Those relay teams include some that are medley relays, which combines a number of different swims. They also have freestyle relay teams and co-ed relay teams.
“We focus on the relay teams because it’s more fun that way for everyone to swim together,” said Cooke.
This is Cooke’s first year as a coordinator for the swim team. The team also has a new head coach in Henry Payette, a former high school student of Earl Marriott who competed for the swim team last season.
They look to lead the swim team to provincial glory in Richmond later this month.
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