She may not be golden, but Lauren Kostiw’s performance at the Aug. 18-19 Alberta Summer Swimming Association Provincials in Edmonton was a silver lining for the Westlock Gators.
Kostiw swam her girls’ nine-and-under 50-metre breaststroke race in 46.84 seconds, fast enough to win silver and earn the Gators’ only medal of the meet.
“It’s exciting and cool,” she said about being the swim club’s lone medallist.
Only in her second year of swimming with the Gators, Kostiw said the race was special and exciting, but she wasn’t overcome with any anxiety on the starting block.
“I think I was ready for it,” she said.
“I wasn’t nervous for it. We worked hard for this in practice.”
While Kostiw was the only swimmer to earn any hardware at the Kinsmen Fieldhouse last weekend, coach Kendall Mills said a lot of swimmers put their best effort forward and were rewarded with lowered personal bests. “Some of our swimmers that were top in our region, once they were able to have some more competition, they took off sometimes up to three seconds (off their times),” she said.
In addition, she said that even though no one else won any medals, the Gators weren’t too far off. At the provincial level, there is not much to separate the top swimmers from those who finished out of the top three.
In total, the Gators sent nine to the meet. The seven swimmers who competed in individual events took part in 23 races, with Ann-Marie Carnegie’s fourth-place finish in the girls’ 18-and-over 400-metre freestyle the team’s second-best result.
The girls’ 14-and-under 200-metre medley relay earned a 14th-place finish with a time of 2:47.45.
Overall, Mills said the team’s performance through all the meets was great.
“I think it was a very positive season,” she said. “I think lots of our swimmers have improved and grown and I really hope most of them join again.”
That desire to see the current swimmers return to the fold next year also extends to those people in the community who may be interested in taking up swimming, she said, adding she welcomes anyone who wants to join, even if they don’t take part in the meets.
“The best aspect of the swim club is it’s truly what you make it,” Mills said. “You can come two times a week and do more recreation or you can come to all six weekly practices and all the competitions.”
Either way, she said the benefits that come with joining include exercise and community involvement.
