The North Island Predators Association swam to new heights as they placed 13th out of 29 scoring teams at last weekend's Swim BC AAA Short Course Provincial Championships.
Coaches Darryl Rudolf and Albert Burgund were quite pleased. "The swimmers gave it their all. They really started to get behind one another, cheering and swimming - it was great". Coach Darryl did a super job motivating the swimmers with pep talks before each evening session.
The current crew of 17 did an awesome job and swam their best. Joyce Arends, Juliana Bartemucci, Jenna Beaudin, Melayna Beuadin, Cianna Dunn, Brooke Lamoureux, Ben Neufeld, Mackenzie Padington, Ian Ralston, Jordyn Ryan, Cassidy Scott, James Sidhu, Conner Skuse, Jasmine Skuse, Kennedy Windle, and Gabrielle Wolfe stood out in their bright lime green Predators shirts but it was their "in water" performances that made folks The results were nothing less than spectacular. Melayna and Brooke each pulled in two bronze and one silver. Ben added a pair of silver. Jordyn, Conner, and Gabrielle each brought home a pair of bronze medals. Mackenzie stole the show with two gold, two silver, and a trio of bronze medals.
One of the goals at these championships was to qualify for the Canadian Age Group Championships being held in Montreal this summer. This year, swimmers need three qualifying times just to attend. The qualifying times break down as follows: Juliana (1), Brooke (6), Ben (7), Mackenzie (7), Jordyn (7), Conner (7), and Gabrielle (2). Congratulations on these QTs and get those suitcases ready!
Swimming to 100 per cent best times were: Juliana, Melayna, Cianna, Ian, James, Conner, and Megan. The biggest improvement came from Gabrielle as she shaved 16.53 seconds off her 800 free to reach the Canadian Age Group Standard in a bronze medal time of 9:56.78.
Congratulations also go to Mackenzie Paddington, Brooke Lamoureux, and Jordyn Ryan who have been selected to the Prospects West Camp. They will be representing Team BC in Kamloops this April.
Both the Comox Valley Aquatic Club Sharks and the Campbell River Killer Whales Swim Clubs wish to thank their respective communities for the support they have received. For complete results check out the club website or Swimming Canada.
– Comox Valley Aquatic Club Sharks