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Waveriders off to B.C. Summer Games

The Waveriders send two swimmers off to Surrey to compete in the summer games
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Garnet Currie doing the breaststroke in the first meet of the season.

The Waveriders Swim Club is sending two of their swiftest young swimmers to the B.C. Summer Games this July.

Both Janna Kovacs, 12, and Garnet Currie, 12, are excited at the prospect of going to Surrey for the B.C. Summer Games. For Kovacs, it's been a goal to make it, for Currie, not so much.

"I've wanted this for two years," Kovacs said.

"I never knew about it," Currie replied with a smile.

"I think when [Coach Jerrit Brink] said we were going to B.C. Games I asked what it was."

Kovacs is headed down to Surrey to take on the 400 metre freestyle, while Currie is representing the region in the 1,500 metre freestyle.

The games offers the two swimmers a new adventure, as they will be swimming as part of a new team and under a different coach.

Though both Kovacs and Currie have met the coaches they will be swimming for, they will not get to train with the new coaches until they meet up with them in Surrey.

That leaves the bulk of the training up to Brink, who, now that the season is largely over for the Waveriders, has a smaller team he can focus on.

"The one-on-one time is good for the kids. It frees me up to do something focused on the individual," Brink said.

For him to train them and then send them away to the meet alone is strange for Brink, but he's hoping the two will learn something from this new experience.

"This is a life experience and a skill – that you're not always going to have your coach," said Brink

"I'm excited to see if what I've given them will translate when I'm not there."

Brink is excited to see the swimmers he coached to this point stand on their own going to the games, which he likened to a mini-Olympics.

"I was thrilled for them. It's a pretty big deal for a 12-year-old," he said.

Despite the excitement and pressure that goes with competing in the summer games, neither of the athletes seem to be phased. It is, after all, what they've been doing, and excelling at, all winter.

Brink is impressed with both of the swimmers’ performance over the season and is confident they'll do well.

"They're both very, very talented swimmers and if they dig deep they'll do well," Brink said.

The games is more than just competition, though. It's about building friendships and having fun.

Kovacs, who has heard stories of how fun the games are, is looking forward to making some of those memories herself.

She's not the only one hoping the games will be fun.

"My expectation for them is to have fun. They have succeeded in so many things this season, so rapidly," Brink said.

"I'm sure there'll be plenty of smiles."

The Waveriders also sent  Natasha Hanson and Olivia Therrien to the ‘AA’ championship in Victoria. they are also sending Garnet Currie to the ‘AAA’ Championships in Richmond this weekend.