Four Vernon Kokanee Swim Club members returned from the Western Canadian championships in Winnipeg with four finals swims, one new club record and 11 personal best times.
Meredith Levorson, 16, came home with a new club record in the 50 backstroke, beating the old mark set in 2009 by half a second in 31.90 seconds.
Leverson, swimming in the 16 and over category, made four finals races. In the 50-free, Leverson finished in sixth place in 27.22; in the 100-free, she swam 59.19 to finish in seventh place; she finished 13th in 2:28.15 in the 200-individual medley, and was 16th in the 200-backstroke in 2:25.63.
Levorson is now preparing to race the 50 and 100 free at the 2016 Rio Olympic Trials, April 5-10, in Toronto.
Alexandra Shortt, 15, and Anika Kintzel, 16, competed in all the breaststroke races and made improvements in their long course times.
Shortt improved two full seconds in the 50- breast and 100-breast in 36.91 and 1:22.77.
Kintzel improved her 50 breast by .2 seconds and also took a large two seconds off her 50-free time in the girls 50-free relay.
Kelsey Fillion swam in the freestyle and backstroke races and made solid drops. Helping lead off the relay teams in 50 and 100 Back, Fillion dropped a total of two seconds off her times.
In the 100-free, Fillion dropped from a 1:03 to a 1:02 time, getting a little closer to breaking the one-minute barrier.
With four girls racing for the VKSC, they were able to field a relay team for four different relays over the course of the meet in the open category.
‘The Western Canadian championships were a great experience for the girls as many top swimmers were racing to prepare for the Olympic Trials in six weeks,” said Kokanee head coach Steven Vander Meulen. “Racing at this high level will help the swimmers become more and more prepared for top level swimming.”
