The Ogopogo ‘Green Machine’ is back and was firing on all cylinders last weekend at the Penticton Pikes Swim Meet.
In their first meet of the season, the local swim club was dominant in taking the overall team title by a convincing 391 points over the second place team.
“Overall our entire team swam incredibly fast. I was extremely impressed with the way our swimmers, both veteran and new, responded to the opportunity to race,” said Ogopogo Swim Club coach Greg Laughlin.
In addition to fast races by the whole team, there were also several Ogopogos who earned overall high point awards
On the girls’ side, Emalie Schueler (Div 4) and Julia Nickerson (O1) led the team, winning gold for their divisions. Team mates Gracie Huber (Div2), Susie Morel (Div 6) and Katelyn Fay (O1) all had big swims, earning silver medals in their respective divisions. Additionally, Kyra Sewell (div2) had a strong meet and captured the bronze aggregate.
For the boys’ team, the Ogopgos won gold in divisions 6 through 8, along with the open category division. Senior swimmers Matt Tran and Denzel Mohammed led the men’s team, each earning gold in their divisions. Along with earning consecutive first place finishes, Denzel Mohammed also shattered three Ogopogo club records (100 back, 50 Fly, 50 Free). Backing up the senior boys were the club’s promising up and comers: Logan Lalonde (div3), Ehren Woodward (div2), and Theo Mohammed (O2) who secured silvers in their divisions. Swimmers Matt MacDonald (div 2), Flyn Huber (div 1) and Alex Sewell (div 4) all had solid swims and earned bronze aggregates.
Along with achieving numerous awards, our swimmers also achieved personal success. Swimmers Malaya Galigan, Madelyn DeGruchy, Denby Huber, Michelle Kraetzer, Andrea Kraetzer, Gabriel Mohamed, Julian Mohammed, Theo Mohamed, Alex Swell and Myles Woodward all achieved 100 per cent best times over the weekend. Notably, swimmer Malaya Galigan had the most improvement over the weekend dropping an impressive 59.43 seconds in a single event.
