The Shuswap Swimming Team took 11 swimmers to the Swim BC “AA” Short Course Championships (racing in a 25-meter pool) in Surrey on the Feb. 8-10 weekend, and the results were great.
The Shuswap Swimming Team members earned 14 trips to the podium at the meet, winning three gold medals, four silver and seven bronze medals, while breaking 10 team records along the way. Two swimmers also qualified to race at the Swim BC AAA level
On the girls side:
•11-and-under girls – Jenna Tiedeman was at her first AA provincials and had a great meet with her best ranking as 21st in the 200-m freestyle, where she improved her time by 17 seconds.
•12-year-old girls – Morgan Rasmuson made it to the finals in the 200-m individual medley and placed 8th as her best result, and she broke the team records in both this event and the 200-m backstroke.
• 14-year-old girls – Paige Coutlee had a great meet, as she advanced to the finals in every event that she swam, ended up with a bronze medal in the 100-m freestyle race and also earned a team record in the final of the 200m backstroke. Emma Pyle also raced fast enough to earn herself a bronze medal in the 200-m breaststroke.
This was the first year that the Shuswap Swimming Team was able to field a girls relay at this level of competition, and the team raced well, earning 11th place in the 4 x 50-m freestyle relay for the 14 and younger girls.
On the boys side:
11-and-under boys – Jacob Rambo who just turned 11 the day before the competition had a great meet, winning gold in the 100-m butterfly race, and was fast enough to qualify to race at the Swim BC AAA Championships. He also won two bronze medals in the 200-m and 400-m individual medley races, and broke the team record in the 400-m freestyle.
Teammate Ethan Pyle was also at his first AA provincial meet, and ended up in 11th place in both the 50-m freestyle and 100-m breaststroke races.
• 13-year-old boys – Ethan Quilty had a great meet as he also advanced to the finals in every event, won gold in the 100m backstroke race and silver medals in both the 100-m butterfly and 200-m backstroke races. Quilty’s times in the backstroke were fast enough to break the team records in those events and his times posted in both the 100-m backstroke and 100-m butterfly were fast enough for him to also qualify for the Swim BC AAA Championships.
Teammate Ty Webster-Locke was close on his heels, as he advanced to the finals in four races and brought home a silver medal in the 200-m freestyle, and a bronze in the 200-m individual medley race.
Olin Mosher and Torrey McKee both advanced to the finals in several events, and picked up fifth place in the 100-m freestyle and 200-m butterfly races respectively for their best results. McKee also swam fast enough in the 200-m butterfly to etch his name on the record books.
The 13-year-old boys relay team of Quilty, Webster-Locke, Mosher and McKee also stepped up their games for two relays as they won gold in the 14-and-younger 4x50m freestyle, and silver in the 4×50-m medley relays – both in record time for the team.
• 15-and-older boys – Logan Pilias had a good meet too, as he swam to 12th place in both the 50-m freestyle and 100-m butterfly races.
The open-aged relay teams of Pilias, Quilty, Webster-Locke and Mosher also combined to earn two bronze medals in exciting come-from-behind finishes in both the 4×50-m freestyle and 4×50-m medley relay races.
This was a great meet for the team as they earned the most number of medals at this level of competition in the history of the team.
In other news, Bree Cooper of the Shuswap Swimming Team is off to Saskatoon for the Swimming Canada Western National Championships being held from Feb. 14-17.
