The Athabasca Rapids Swim Club came home with 20 top-five finishes after their first meet of the season Nov. 4.
The club sent ten members to the meet, hosted by the Penguins Swim Club and held at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton. The swimmers achieved 20 top-five finishes, including seven first-place finishes.
Athabasca Rapids Swim Club head coach Janet Kamelchuk said she was happy with her team’s performance.
“I was very excited with how well the swimmers performed at the first meet of the season,” Kamelchuk said. “Going into a meet this early in the season, sometimes the kids are just getting into the swing of training again so you never really know.”
Kamelchuk highlighted the fact that the team’s swimmers achieved their personal best swim times in over 80 per cent of their events.
The coach ascribes that consistent achievement to hard work by her swimmers.
“It really can be attributed to the attitude and the work ethic that the swimmers are displaying in the pool this season. We’ve only been back in the water for roughly a month,” Kamelchuk said. “They’re really showing up at every practice.”
The club’s next meet is the third annual Blue Vs. Gold Swim Meet in Fort McMurray Nov. 25.
The team’s full results from its first swim meet are below:
Maizie Holdis (girls 10 & under): 2nd (50m Freestyle); 4th (50m butterfly; 100m IM)
Avery Kamelchuk (girls 11-12): 1st (50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 200m IM)
Logan Boucher (boys 10 & under): 1st (50m butterfly, 100m IM); 2nd (50m freestyle; 50m backstroke); 5th (50m backstroke)
Benneit Hall (boys 10 & under): 2nd (25m freestyle; 25m butterfly); 4th (25m breaststroke)
Lance Holdis (boys 10 & under): 3rd (25m freestyle)
Chris McCullagh (boys 13 & over): 2nd (100m IM); 5th (50m backstroke)
Carl Olson (boys 10 & under): 5th (25m freestyle)
Zachary Sikora (boys 13 & over): 5th (200m IM)
