It was a weekend of firsts for many Richmond Rapids Swim Club members in Kamloops; a first time away from home without mom and dad and a first competition where team travel was done on a bus.
For eight-year-old William MacDougall it was his first swim meet ever. He had competed in the Richmond Rapids Swim School's Mini Meets but never in a sanctioned competition.
MacDougall swam great. He placed 10th in the 10 and under boys' 100 breaststroke and 50 backstroke, 13th in the 100 back and 50 fly, 14th in the 50 free and 17th in the 100 freestyle events.
Rapids Swim School Manager Donna Hand credits her coaches at the Minoru pool with great salesmanship of the sport and their ability to foster the love of racing in young swimmers.
"It was great to see one of our young swimmers represent themselves and the club so well in Kamloops," she said. "The hope is to have more swimmers compete at that meet next year."
The Rapids brought 26 athletes to the three-day meet, which hosted 450 swimmers from around the province. The skills and abilities of the group varied from LearntoSwim athletes to Provincial qualifiers. Some of the swimmers swam eight races per day over two sessions. It was extremely important to manage rest, hydration, food and recovery. The Rapids that did this swam well.
Swimmers achieving 100 percent personal bests included: Sarah Crawford (8), Ashley Dulay (13), Ali Sayedain (13) and William MacDougall (8).
Finalists for the Rapids were (Top 8): Austin Berry (12) gold 200 breaststroke, silver 100 free/200 back, bronze 200 free/50 free/100 back, 4th 100 fly, 5th 200 fl. Jaylene Berry (13) 4th 200 fly, 5th 200 back, 6th 100 back, 7th 200 free. Ethan Chan (11) 4th 200 back/200 free, 7th 100 back, 8th 50 free. Arvin Chua (13) 6th 50 fly.
Matthew Crawford (10) gold 100 back/50 free/50 breast/100 free/200 free/100 fly/200 IM. Sarah Crawford (8) 5th 100 fly, 6th 50 back. Jeremy Fung (10) silver 100 back/100 free/200 free/200 IM, 4th 200 fly, 7th 200 back. Jerry Liu (13) bronze 200 IM, 7th 100 back, 8th 50 breaststroke. Richard Rakchtis (12) 4th 100 back, 7th 200 fly. Eva Ryder (14) 5th 200 fly/50 breast, 7th 50 fly/100 breast, 7th 200 breaststroke. Nicole Welsh (14) silver 200 fly, bronze 200 back/200 breast/100 breast, 5th 100 back/100 fly. Selina Zhou (13) 8th 200 fly.
Rapids swimmers are off to their championship meets over the next month and a half. The team will be sending 26 athletes to Victoria for the BC AA Champiionshi[s, 33 athletes to Richmond for the BC AAA Championships, 19 athletes to Calgary for the Canadian Age Group National Championships and two swimmers to the Canadian Summer Nationals in Edmonton.
Nicolaas Dekker (16) has qualified for the North American Challenge Cup team in Edmonton. This is a Canadian Junior National team which will race against two California All-Star teams as well as the Mexican Junior National team.
The Rapids host the B.C. AAA Provincial Championships, July 5-8 at Watermania. Come out and watch the best 18 and under swimmers in the province in some exciting swimming action.
For more information on Summer Camps, Summer training Opportunities or next year's registration dates visit www.richmondrapids.com for details.
