The Vernon Kokanee Swim Club dove into a new season last weekend at the Penticton Triple Pentathlon and Jamboree.
The Pentathlon is a challenging meet format where the athletes swim five events per day; one race each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley; three days in a row.
“It was a fantastic opportunity for the athletes’ and coaches to evaluate how the early season training has been and what to focus on in training moving forward,” said Kokanee head coach Tyson Wellock. “Awesome performances were turned in by Pascal Glanz and Liam Greenan who swam all lifetime bests; Kelsey Fillion, who placed third in the Pentathlon; Zach Sholdice and Ryan Murphy, who had outstanding races and big improvements throughout the weekend; and Abbi Johnson and Sara Johnstone, who showed a lot of grit and toughness in their races and outswam the competition to touch the wall first.”
The Jamboree, which is for athletes who have not broken four minutes in the 200 IM yet, had a number of fantastic performances. Emma Weslowski had an incredible 200 IM and improved her time by 15 seconds and powered her way well under the four-minute standard. Weslowski is now eligible to attend Invitationals.
Georgia Shortt and Charles Johnson both dropped tons of time and got very close to swimming under four minutes. Emily Mann and Asher VanderDeen both competed in their very first meet and were excellent.
The Kokanees host the Fall Invitational and Jamboree, Nov. 3-5, at the Aquatic Centre.
