The Quesnel SeaLions took to the water for the Cariboo Regional swim meet in Prince George, Aug. 2 – 3.
This event served as a qualifier for the upcoming Provincials in Kamloops. Out of the 30 swimmers that attended regionals 17 will be moving on to compete in Kamloops.
At the event there were three heats, followed by a final of the top eight swimmers. Swimmers could enter into up to four events and must come in the top three in all events to move on to provincials.
Swimmer Natalie Bergeron settled for nothing less than first place, swimming past the competition to take the gold in the girls Division 1 100m individual medley (IM), as well as the 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke and the 100m freestyle.
Also competing in girls Divison 1 was Ava McGillivray taking third place in the 100m IM, 50m backstroke and the 50m breaststroke.
In the 50m freestyle Ava swam in for second place.
In girls Division 2 100m IM SeaLion Taylor McGillivray launched herself from third place in the preliminaries, with a time of 1:52.92 into second place finishing with a time of 1:43.65.
Taylor took home another second place win this time in the 50m Freestyle and in the 100m freestyle and the 50m backstroke she swam into third place.
Also swimming in the girls Division 2 events was Madison Nixon, taking a second place win in the 50m butterfly.
Audrey Jepersen, girls Division 3 swimmer, plunged into the water for first place in the 100m IM, the 50m freestyle, the 50m backstroke and the 50m breaststroke.
Lauren Pastachak also competed in several of the girls Division 3 events, taking second place in the 100m IM, the 50m butterfly, the 50m backstroke and the 100m freestyle.
First place in the 50m butterfly and the 100m freestyle and second place in the 50m freestyle was girls Division 3 swimmer Lucy Jespersen
SeaLions Casey Fisher launched up from fourth place into third during the finals for girls Division 3 100m IM.
Fisher also took a third place win in the 50m freestyle and second place in the 50m breaststroke.
First place in the 200m IM, the 50m freestyle, the 50m butterfly and the 100m breaststroke was girls Division 4 swimmer Olivia Crocker.
Also swimming in girls Division 4 was Megan Pastachak, taking home first place in the 100m freestyle, second place in the 200m IM and the 500m freestyle and third place in the 100m breaststroke.
First place in the girls Division 5 50m freestyle was Felicity Murray, also swimming into second place in the 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle and third place in the 100m backstroke.
Sarah Milligan, girls division 5 competitor, swam in for second place in the 200m IM, the 50m freestyle and the 100m backstroke, as well as first place in the 100m freestyle event.
Baylee McGillivray took first place in the 100m butterfly, the 50m butterfly and the 50m freestyle, as well as second place in the 100m breaststroke for girls Division.
Second place in the 100m backstroke was Cassies Greenwood, girls Division 6 swimmer, also taking third place in the 50m butterfly.
In girls Division 5 100m freestyle SeaLion Carmen Huang launched by the competition to take second place.
Girls “O” category swimmer was SeaLion Boroka Peter, swimming for first place in the 50m backstroke, second place in the 100m IM, the 100m freestyle and the 50m freestyle.
Boys Divisions 1 swimmer Crosby Wolfe jumped up one spot during the finals, swimming into third for the 50m freestyle. Wolfe also dove into the water for another win, taking first place in the 50m breaststroke.
Shawn Fisher, boys Division 2 competitor, won first place in the 50m breaststroke and the 100m freestyle, while also taking second place wins in the 100m IM and the 50m backstroke.
Also swimming in boys Division 3 was SeaLion Owen Larson, taking second place in the 50m breaststroke and third place in the 100m IM, 100m freestyle and the 50m backstroke.
For boys Division 4, second place in the 200m IM went to Dawson McGillivray followed by fellow SeaLions Michael Greenwood in third place.
McGillivray left the event with two more top wins, second place in the 50m butterfly and third place in the 100m breaststroke.
SeaLion Nixon Logan, boys Division 5 swimmer, swam in for second place in the 100m butterfly and third place in the 50m butterfly and the 100m breaststroke.
Also competing in the boys Division 5 was Joshua Salmons, third place winner in the 100m freestyle event.
Even SeaLions coach Chris McGauley plunged into the competition, swimming into first place in the 100m backstroke for boys Division 6.
As well as individual events the SeaLions also participated in several of
the relay events.
“We are sitting in the right position to go fast into provincials,” coach McGauley said. “We have a group of girls going to the relay [Lauren Pastachak, Lucy Jesperson, Audrey Jesperson and Casey Fisher] that have a chance at a provincial record.”
McGauley is confident in the group of swimmers he has going to provincials and is hoping to take home at least 10 medals. The SeaLions dedicated four months of their time, with eight practices a week to the club.
“They can swim up to 20k a week,” said McGauley. “When you aren’t at the pool you are resting. It takes up a lot of your summer and takes a lot of focus and commitment.”
After four months of hardwork, practice and a seemingly endless stream of swim meets the SeaLions will take on provincials in Kamloops, Aug. 16 – 17.