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Waveriders crash to podium

Olivia Therrien and Janna Kovacs swam to the podium at the provincial double A championships in Chilliwack last weekend.
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Olivia Therrien

Olivia Therrien and Janna Kovacs were on their A-game and swam to the podium at the provincial double A championships in Chilliwack last weekend.

Swimming for the Quesnel Waveriders Swim Club, Therrien and Kovacs collected a silver and a bronze medal, respectively.

“Their results are fantastic,” Waveriders coach Jerrit Brink said.

“For both of them to make the podium at week 20 in the program, I’m quite impressed with them.”

Therrien, 14, earned her silver medal in the  50m freestyle event.

A Grade 9 student at Quesnel junior school, Therrien entered the provincial competition ranked 14th in the 50m event.

“I felt pretty good about jumping from 14th to second,” Therrien said of her trip to the podium.

The final race was a nail-biter, with the top three swimmers finishing with two-tenths of a second from each other, Therrien explained.

“I knew it was close,” Therrien said.

“But I didn’t know where I would finish.”

Therrien attributes her success to spending more time in the pool, swimming not only for the Sea Lions, a summer swim club, but also with the Waveriders, a winter swim club.

A benefit of spending more time in the pool, Therrien said was a noticeable improvement in her technique which has allowed her to post better times, incuding several personal bests.

“She’s dilligent,” Brink said of Therrien’s approach to swimming.

“She tries so hard.”

In addition to the silver medal, Therrien also collected a fourth and eigth-place finishes in two other finals events, the 100m freestyle and the 200m IM, respectively.

“I’m happy with those results, I didn’t even know if I could qualify for the finals,” Therrien said.

Kovacs, 12, collected her bronze medal in the 200m freestyle event.

Still beaming with pride, Kovacs said she went into the provincials determined to win a medal.

Mission accomplished.

“It was really good and I’m happy with myself,” Kovacs, a Grade 7 student at Dragon Lake school said.

The bronze medal contributes to the personal satisfaction, Kovacs said, but also making the finals in five of her six events was also an accomplishment.

“She has so much to be proud about,” Brink said.

“She showed a lot of heart to get there.”