Two members of Quesnel’s Waveriders Swim Club competed in the provincial Tier I Championship Swim Meet in Kelowna on June 23-24.
Boroka Peter, 11, and Luca Armstrong, 12, achieved personal bests in many of the events they competed in, making the event a successful one for the young swimmers.
Peter swam in the 11- to 12-year-old division, competing in the 200-metre freestyle and 200-metre individual medley, scoring personal bests in both that were well under Tier I qualifying times.
“For Boroka, it was an example that even in a few weeks, an athlete can have gains from a previous personal best effort that was done only a short time before,” says Waveriders head coach Jeritt Brink.
“She committed to pushing hard on a set we did about six times a week leading up to Kelowna, and it worked. She shaved off a few more seconds.”
Brink says Peter told him her finish in the 200-individual medley was her best 50-metre butterfly ever, and he agrees.
Luca Armstrong competed in the 12- to 13-year-old boys division and had personal bests in six of his races, placing in the top 40 in 100-metre backstroke, 200-metre freestyle and 50-metre freestyle.
His performance is all the more impressive considering he hurt his leg a few weeks before the championship and lost over 10 days of practice.
Brink says some practice in his turns and underwater kicks paid off in spades during the competition.
For one 200-metre freestyle heat, he was able to turn a 7th-place position at the beginning of the race into a convincing win thanks to fast turns and pushing himself underwater off the wall.
Next up for the Waveriders is the Tier II provincial championships in Victoria on July 6-8.
Garnet Currie, Logan Godose, Audrey Jespersen, Billy Swyers and Hannah Trimble will all be racing.
Following that, the B.C. Summer Games will be held in Cowichan on July 19-22, where Gavin Currie, Darby O’Harda and Billy Swyers will compete.
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