Prince Rupert swimming cohort shines in Winnipeg

Prince Rupert’s amateur swimmers showed off their strokes at the ManSask Long Course Championships in Winnipeg last week.

The July 4-7 competition featured top youth swimmers in the country, with eight athletes from Prince Rupert qualifying for the big stage. The group set a number of impressive times to see Prince Rupert Amateur Swim Club (PRASC) come 13th overall out of the 33 clubs in attendance.

Warren Barton, 17, came sixth overall in the 200- metre butterfly, and placed strong in the 100 and 200- metre freestyle races. His 200- metre freestyle time of 2:05.47 set a new Swim BC Tier 2 record, with new records in the same category also coming in the 100- metre freestyle (56.70) and the 100- metre butterfly (1:02.17).

Heidi Bellis, the youngest Prince Rupert swimmer competing at just age 10, set a new Swim BC Tier 1 mark in the 50- metre freestyle with a time of 34.87 seconds. She also swam to new ManSask AA times with a 200- metre backstroke of 3:10.57 and a 50- metre backstroke of 40.87 seconds.

Olympian Hilary Caldwell joined the winning Prince Rupert swimmers after the PRASC won the Northwest Spring Invitational in June. (PRASC photo)

Lauryn Fontaine, 17, set a new ManSask AA time in the 100- metre butterfly with 1:13.44. Fellow 17 year old Jarred McMeekin had strong results of his own in the sprint events, coming sixth overall in both the 50- metre freestyle and 50- metre butterfly.

The top 10 finishes kept coming for the PRASC swimmers as Isaac Dolan, 15, came sixth in the 200- metre freestyle and eighth in the 100- metre freestyle. Magnus Veldman, 11, had a flurry of single digit placements with marks of sixth in the 100 and 200- metre backstrokes, seventh in the 50- metre butterfly, and eighth in the 50- metre backstroke.

Josh Joubert, 14, finished sixth overall in the 200- metre butterfly, and Natalie DeMille made the B final of the 50- metre backstroke.

In the relay portion of the competition, the 16 and over boys team made up of Warren Barton, Isaac Dolan, Josh Joubert, and Jarred McMeekin placed sixth overall in the 200- metre freestyle, and ninth place in the 200- metre individual medley.

Alex Kurial | Sports Reporter

Alex Kurial