The weather may have been cold outside, but the competition inside the Quesnel and District Arts and Recreation Centre was red hot as the Quesnel Waveriders hosted their fifth annual Gold Pan Swim Meet over the Feb. 8-9 weekend.
The annual meet would see 85 athletes from Prince George, Williams Lake and Quesnel dive into the competition.
A total of 33 athletes from Quesnel took part in the meet, with 20 of them winning medals in front of their hometown fans.
The Waveriders won an incredible 28 gold, 25 silver and 24 bronze medals over the course of the weekend.
Waveriders head coach Jerrit Brink said while he doesn’t approach swim meets with expectations for his athletes, he is very proud of all they have accomplished, both during the competition and in their training.
“Expectations are a big killer because once you have them, you don’t meet them,” he said. “I just have good faith in our kids’ ability, and when they put their minds to it, they can really swim.”
Some standout performances from the club were 16-year-old Seth Reddemann, who placed in every race he took part in, winning gold in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle events and gold in the 50m Butterfly, as well as silver in the 100m Backstroke and 50m Breaststroke.
Thirteen-year-old Chloe Hopton had an incredible weekend, making a provincial time and breaking a club record in the 50m Freestyle race with a time of 29.03. Hopton won gold medals in the 50m and 100m Freestyle races, along with two gold medals for the 50m Backstroke and the 100m Breaststroke, as well as a silver medal in the 400m Freestyle.
Also having impressive showings over the weekend were 11-year-old Memphis Swaan and nine-year-old Elise Jonasson.
Swaan won three gold medals for the 50m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke and a silver medal in the 100m Freestyle, as well as three bronzes medals for the 100m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke and 200m Breaststroke.
Jonasson won gold in the 400m Medley and silver in the 100m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke, as well as three bronze medals for the 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke and 200m Medley.
READ MORE: Quesnel Waveriders make a splash in Kelowna
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