Competing in their home pool, local swimmers showed well during the KISU Triple Pentathlon in mid-October.
KISU coach Tina Hoeben said it was a good early-season meet.
“There were lots of great performances,” said Hoeben. “Being early season, what we are really looking forward to is building upon those performances.”
Among the top performers was Talan Dekleva, 10, who finished no lower than second or third in 14 events. Other KISU notables include Ava Wall, who earned 12, first-place finishes, to go with two second-place finishes and a sixth. Justin Fotherby, 13, had 14 top-three finishes. Tyler Wall only competed on the final day, but took first in the 50 metre freestyle in 24.69 seconds and second in the 50-m back in 28.33. Several of the KISU swimmers earned top-three finishes and reduced times.
The club also held a jamboree for younger swimmers on the final day. Holly Badger, nine, took third in the 200 individual medley clocking a time of three minutes, 59.81 seconds. She was also fourth in the 100-metre freestyle. Sean Cribb, six, took third in the 25-m breast stroke in 38.11 seconds and was fourth in the 25-m freestyle. Hercules Gilman, nine, was fourth in the 50-m breast stroke finishing in 1:02.25. Violet Gilman, eight, took first in the 100-m freestyle in 1:59.03, second in the 50-m fly in 1:02.96 and fourth in the 100 IM. Fraser Slynes, seven, took second in the 25-m breast stroke, third in the 25-m free and was fourth in the 25-m fly. Kyden Hurst, nine, took third in the 100-m free. She was also fourth in the 200 IM. Leevi Kontkanen, 11, was second in the 200 IM in 3:54.87, was third in the 50-m fly and 100-m free and fourth in the 50-m back. Emelie McCaughey, nine, took first in the 50-m fly in 53.24 and was third in the 100-m free. Yejun Park, nine, was fourth in the 50-m fly. Hannah Rutten, nine, was third in the 100 IM and 50-m back and fourth in the 50-m fly. Olivia Seddon, seven, was fourth in the 25-m free. Evan Stirling, 11, racked up four first place finishes in the 200 IM, 50-m back, 50-m fly and 100-m free. He also picked up second in the 50-m breast stroke. Dayla Yamaoka, seven, was second in the 25-m free and third in the 25-m back.
The other highlight of that weekend for KISU is that visiting clubs were impressed with how the meet was organized. The quality of the meet resulted in the visiting Okanagna clubs expressing a desire to return.
KISU’s next competition is in Vernon, Nov. 3 to 5. Between now and then, the coaches will focus on a variety of areas to have the swimmers ready. Tyler Wall pic
In other news, Tyler Wall, Acacia Benn and alumni Jaren LeFranc have been carded by Swimming Canada. This will result in the trio receiving financial support to cover costs of training. Along with KISU, the only other clubs in B.C. to have three or more swimmers getting carded were the High Performance Training Centres in Vancouver and Victoria. LeFranc has also been invited to join the High Performance Centre in Vancouver, while Wall has been invited by Swimming Canada to be part of a training camp in Trinidad in February.
