On the weekend of August 17th to 19th six Creston Wave swimmers represented the Kootenay region at the Provincial championships in Surrey, BC. The swimmers earned some big best times, made several finals, and two swimmers brought home Provincial medals.
Aleena Ziefflie competed in her second Provincial championship meet. She swam in three individual events and on a div-1 regional relay team. In the 50m Freestyle Ziefflie took off six seconds for a time of 49.69. She placed 22nd overall in the event. She placed 20th in the 50m Butterfly and was first out of the Kootenay swimmers with a time of 55.97.
Ziefflie also competed in the 50m Breaststroke. She took off six seconds for a time of 1:07.96, earning her 24th place. With the div 1 relay team, she finished 7th.
Callum Ziefflie also took off time in his races, earning him three final appearances. In the 50m Freestyle, he took off almost three seconds for a time of 34.41. He made “A” finals and finished 8th overall in the event.
In the div 2, 50m Butterfly Ziefflie broke the 40-second mark with a time of 39.63, earning him 12th place. Ziefflie also swam a best time in the 50m Breaststroke with a time of 47.81. With his div 2 relay team, Ziefflie finished 6th out of the eight regions.
Jake Wiens competed in div 4, swimming a personal best in two of his three individual events. In the 200m IM Wiens took off two seconds for a time of 3:02.02, earning him a 23rd place. Wiens placed 20th in the 50m Freestyle with a time of 31.64.
Wiens’ best finish came in the 50m Butterfly. He finished 18th, narrowly missing finals, with a time of 34.90. Wiens also swam on the div-4 regional relay team that finished 7th.
Katelyn Wiens and Emily Simpson both swam in div 7. Both made finals in all of their events. In the 200m IM, Simpson took off three seconds for a time of 2:48.95, earning her 5th place overall.
Both Wiens and Simpson competed in the 50m Freestyle. Simpson finished 11th overall with a best time of 30.22 and Wiens finished 10th overall with a best time of 29.75.
In the 50m Butterfly, Simpson finished 13th with a time of 33.63. In the 100m Freestyle Wiens finished 11th with a time of 1:10.79.
Both girls had their best individual swims in the 100m Breaststroke. Wiens swam a best time of 1:24.21 putting her in 5th place, while Simpson’s best time of 1:22.18 put her in 4th place. Both just missed an individual medal in the event.
Wiens and Simpson did manage to medal with their regional relay. Simpson swam the breaststroke leg while Wiens anchored the relay as the freestyler. With a time of 2:10 the girls won the silver medal, finishing only behind the Simon Fraser region.
Coach Kieran Simpson also competed. He finished 17th in the div 8 200m IM with a time of 2:48.85, 18th in the 100m Butterfly with a time of 1:16.81, and 15th in the 100m Breaststroke with a time of 1:18.96.
The team had their best placement at Provincials in recent year, and saw the most Provincial medals brought home by the team in decades with Wiens and Simpson both winning silver.
Provincials marked the end of the season for the team, but they will be back in the water for winter maintenance training in January. Their regular season will start again in May. The team hopes to build off this successful season next year.
