The Quesnel Waveriders took to the Prince George pool this weekend for the first meet of their short course season.
The local swim club sent 24 athletes to compete at the Prince George Barracuda Swim Club Northern Invitational this weekend (Nov. 15-17) and compete they did, placing within the top three a whopping 39 times.
“We had a lot of good results,” says head coach Jeritt Brink. “It was really exciting.”
Luca Armstrong, 14, continues to grow as a swimmer, earning three first-place finishes in 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly, as well as a silver in 50m Breaststroke.
Memphis Swaan, 10, had a real breakout meet too, with six top-three finishes. The young swimmer won his 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 25m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle races, finished second in 50m Backstroke and placed third in 50m Breaststroke.
Billy Swyers, 16, is one of the top male swimmers on the team and continues to lead by example, earning four top-three finishes, including a first-place in his 100m Medley.
Seth Reddeman, 16, also swam well, earning third-place finishes in 400m Freestyle and 100m Medley.
Kaelin Govender, 13, did not finish within the top three but continues to show improvement by posting five personal best times.
Jadon Reddeman, 9, had a solid meet too, swimming in six races and earning one personal best time.
For the girls, there were many family standouts.
Boroka Peter, 12, is finding her stride. She won four races and scored a provincial championships qualifying time for her 50m Freestyle. She finished first in that race, as well as 50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke and 100m Medley.
Her sister Petra, 10, earned three top-three finishes, while the youngest Peter, Fruszsina, 7, scored seven personal bests.
Gavin Currie, 14, continues her family’s fine athletic tradition with five top-three finishes at the meet, including a win in 50m Breaststroke, while her sister, Grace, 16, was able to transition from her terrific softball season into the swimming one well, earning a third-place finish in her 50m Freestyle race.
Chloe Hopton, 13, is beginning to come into her own as a top club member, earning three top-three finishes and nine personal bests.
Elise Jonasson, 9, was the other female swimmer with a top three finish, earning a third place in 35m Butterfly.
Rounding out the girls is Grace Blair, 12, who had four personal bests; Norah Cameron,12, with seven personal bests; Ava Clayton, 9, with six personal bests, Avery Fenton, 13, with seven personal bests; Revanya Govender, 12, with seven as well; Pia Lagah, 11, with seven too, Sanay Lagah, 7, who swam at her first meet; Hollyn Rowsell, 11, with two personal bests; Jasreet Samra, 10, with four personal bests; Lexi Scheitzer, 9 who swam her first meet; and Hannah Trimble; who scored one personal best.
The club’s relay squads performed admirably too.
The 15-and-over boy’s team was short on older athletes, so Govender, 13 and Armstrong, 14, had to suit up alongside Seth Reddeman and Swyers.
Despite competing against many older competitors, the squad still earned third-place finishes in both the 4x50m Freestyle and the 4x50 Medley races.
The girl’s 15-and-over squad was in a similar predicament and were able to be quite successful too. Grace and Gavin Currie teamed up with Hopton and Boroka Peter to clinch second in their 4x50m Freestyle race.
The girl’s 12-and-under fared well too, earning a third-place finish in their 4x50m Freestyle. Boroka Peters, Blair, Roswell and Govender made up the team.
One of Brink’s favourite races was the 10-and-under 4x50m Freestyle with Samra, Jonasson and Fruzsina and Petra Peters.
“On the Freestyle relay with two of the legs gone, we were in sixth place and had Petra Peters and Fruzsina Peters left to race,” Brink says. “Fruzsina hit the water and made up so much ground and then Petra hit the water — and she’s so light and swims so quickly — and before we knew it, they went from sixth to second.
“It was a really good effort from the whole team.”
Up next for the squad will be a meet in Kamloops on Dec. 13, for which they will all be training hard.
Paralympic swimmer Hannah Trimble will also be making a trip to Texas at the beginning of December.
“It’s nice to have somebody push after it enough to start [swimming] at an international level,” Brink says. “It’ll be good for her.”
READ MORE: Three Waveriders qualify for provincials at PG meet
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