Submitted
Six members of the Golden Dolphins Swim Club dove into the pool to compete with nearly 1,200 of the province’s best swimmers at the B.C. Summer Swimming Association’s 60th provincial championships in Surrey.
The Dolphins brought their strength and spirit to the competition and posted many personal best times throughout the weekend. Leif Robinson swam the Division 6 50m butterfly in addition to representing the Okanagan Region in the medley relay, which finished in 5th place.
Talus Robinson competed in the Division 7 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. He posted two best times and placed top 25 in both events. Elyssia McClean swam in the Division 6 200m individual medley (IM), 50 m butterfly, and 100m breaststroke. She posted one best time and placed top 20 in all of her events.
Division 3 swimmer Devon Murphy competed in the 100m IM, 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle. She earned herself a second swim in three of the finals of her events. Overall Murphy placed 12th in the 100m IM, 11th in the 50m butterfly, and 10th in the 100m freestyle.
Roxy Coatesworth swam the 100m IM, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, and 100m freestyle and placed top eight in all her events. Coatesworth won the gold medal in the 50m backstroke, and the bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke. She placed fifth in the 100m IM, and used her second swim in the finals of the 100m freestyle to move from up from eighth place into sixth. She joined Murphy on the Okanagan Region medley relay and the two Dolphins helped the team win the bronze medal.
Head coach Kate Vanderbeek also competed and set a fine example to the team by swimming to win the silver medal in the 100m backstroke. In addition, she swam on the Division 8 Okanagan Region medley relay, which finished fifth.
The provincial swim meet marks the end of the season for the Golden Dolphins, but the athletes will be working hard in school and competing in a variety of other sports throughout the year.
