Eleven Kokanees represented the Vernon Kokanee Swim Club (VKSC) at the 2019 Winter BC Provincial Championships held in Kamloops March 7-10.
First-time qualifiers were Angel Loseth, 12, in the 200m fly event. That was also the first time Loseth had swam that event in a long course pool and Graham Johnstone, 16, in the 200m back.
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Achieving Canadian Junior Championship times for the first time was Alexanne Lepage, 13, in 50m, 100m, 200m free and adding the 100m back, 200m breast and 200m free events to her qualified Canadian Western standards.
Liam Williamson, 17, hung up his suit on a positive note with a personal best in the 100m fly.
Other Kokanees attending the meet include Kelsey Filion and Ryan Murphy (both provincial finalists), Alex Shortt, Nic Phillips, Sam Shortt, Zach Sholdice, and Jenna Heffner. The next competition for VKSC will be the Western Canadian Open April 11-14 with three athletes representing Vernon as members of KWIC.
The top three provincial teams were: first, Hyack Swim Club (HYACK-1107.5 points); second, Kelowna West Integrated Club (KWIC-851 points); and third Island Swim Club (ISC-848.5 points). Vernon finished 24th (VKSC-90) out of 33 teams.
Recently, VKSC has become affiliated with KWIC at provincial level meets. This will enable those clubs within the region affiliated with KWIC to enjoy, through the process of unified Okanagan team of swimmers and coaches, of being more competitive in the future.
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