he Comox Valley Aquatic Club Sharks had a busy May 23-26 weekend, competing at two events.
In Vancouver, Brooke Lamoureux competed at the Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet. This is one of the top meets in Canada and attracts top level swimmers from all over. The big draw this year was the attendance of the current "King of the Pool" Ryan Lochte, multiple Olympic medalist and idol to swimmers everywhere. He is in the middle of a hard training phase but still managed to impress with four wins.
Brooke swam well too – she bettered her long course time with a double-digit drop in the 1500 freestyle and her other swims were quite solid, too.
In Nanaimo, 10 swimmers competed in the seventh annual Spring Sprint.
Ethan Ashley dropped some time on his way to three final swims. Juliana Bartemucci swam her way to four golds and made an impressive drop in her 100 butterfly. Joshua Dolman swam well and made it to four finals. His best was a silver in the 100 backstroke.
First time swimming long course in a 50-metre basin were Alexey Komarov-Shute, Sara Mathews and Brendan Sharp. Alexey made it to three finals and won the 200 breaststroke. He impressed coach Albert with his superb splitting.
Sara established best times in all her swims and looks to have a bright future. Brendan swam to four finals and took home a bronze in the 50 butterfly – a brilliant weekend for these up-and-comers.
Veteran Ben Neufeld won gold in the 200 back and silver in the 50 and the 200 freestyle. Sister Emma took home a couple of bronze – one for the 200 back and one for the 50 free.
Emma and Gabrielle Wolfe added to the excitement. Nine-year-old Emma dropped a whopping 19.34 seconds in her 100 freestyle and did a great job in her other races, too. Gabrielle won the 200 IM and the 200 butterfly, the latter in a best time.
The Sharks thank the community for all their continued support.
– Comox Valley Aquatic Club Sharks