Four members of the KISU Swim Club have secured berths for the Olympic Trials.
Based on their recent performances at the B.C. Winter Provincial Swim Championships at the Saanich Commonwealth Place Pool in Victoria, Acacia Benn, Justin Fotherby, Ashley McMillan and Liam Wallich could all get a shot at making the country’s national swim team.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic it’s not known when the trials will actually take place.
Originally scheduled for March 30 to April 5 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Swimming Canada announced earlier this month the cancellation of those dates and new ones have not been announced.
Those trials were also to determine a national junior team to compete in the Pan Pacific Championships (for countries bordering the Pacific Ocean) tentatively planned for Hawaii this summer.
The 2020 Summer Olympics are currently still scheduled to take place July 24 to Aug. 9 in Tokyo, Japan.
Another event the KISU swimmers were to be competing in, the Western Championships in Saskatoon, Sask. in mid April, have been cancelled and will not be re-scheduled.
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Benn, 18, Fotherby, 16 and 15-year-old McMillan, also recently competed on the world stage Euro 2020 Swim Meet in Luxembourg, Belgium.
In Victoria, competing in the 16 and over category against many older and more experienced athletes, Fotherby, according to a team spokesperson, displayed heart and determination having only arrived on the second day of competition.
Despite the late entry, he brought home first place medals in the 400 and 200-metre medley and second in the 200-metre backstroke with a time improvement of 4.26 seconds.
Another finish of note for Fotherby was a fourth in the 100-metre fly in which three of his opponents were university-level swimmers.
Overall he was KISU’s top male point getter with 72. KISU finished in the top 10, winding up in seventh spot.
True to form, McMillan led way for the club’s female competitors, being the top point getter for females with 141.
She had a first place finish in the 1,500-metre freestyle (improving her previous time by 24.15 seconds) and seconds in 100-metre fly, 50-metre freestyle and 200-metre medley. She also powered through the 200-metre freestyle relay in the 15 and over with “ruthless determination.”
Wallich meanwhile secured his place in the Olympic Trials with a time improvement of 3.61 seconds in the 200-metre breaststroke.
Also demonstrating champion-calibre performances were; para-swimmer Jacob Brayshaw improving his 150-metre medley by 2.03 seconds, Nils Cuypers with time improvements of 19.34 seconds in his 800-metre freestyle and 42.73 seconds in his 1500-metre freestyle; David Schneider swam the 1500-metre freestyle with an improvement of 44.39 seconds, Jordan Souch-Tremblay with an improvement of 26.50 seconds in the 1,500-metre freestyle, and Greta Zapparoli making a trials time for the 50-metre freestyle.
“I was really impressed with the speed and depth that KISU swimmers had at Provincials” said head coach Tina Hoeben. “They have worked very hard in the last couple of months. It was great to see that hard work come to fruition.”
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