Westlock Gator Hannah Tabert brought home three silver medals from the provincial swim meet in Calgary Aug. 12.
Although she was the only one of the five Westlock swimmers who medaled at the event, their coach said they nonetheless all had impressive performances.
Kendall Mills has coached the team for several years, and said both the provincial meet in Calgary and the regional meet in St. Albert the week before showed how far the swimmers have come.
“I don’t remember the last time we had a swimmer medal at provincials in an individual event,” she said. “And at regionals, they blew my expectations. We’re really happy with where they finished.”
Tabert earned silver medals in three events: the 100-metre butterfly, the 200-metre individual medley and the 100-metre breast. She also got fifth place in the 50-metre butterfly, and notched personal bests in 100-metre breast and the individual medley.
“She got silver in the 100 breast, and took off over two seconds,” Mills said. “That’s pretty big in swimming.”
Tabert had the only podium finish for the Gators, but both Rachael Casavant and Evan Felstad also earned new personal-best times.
Ann-Marie Carnegie and Marissa Tabert also competed in the event, and although they didn’t set new personal best times or make the podium, Kendall said she was impressed with how all the swimmers performed — especially given the provincials are a high-pressure event with all the best swimmers in the province.
“We had at least three swimmers where it was their first provincials,” Mills said. “It’s busy, loud and quite overwhelming, but they did good.”
All five of the swimmers who made it to provincials were able to do so because of a lot of hard work and a positive attitude.
“They love the sport,” she said. “They’re there to win and there to compete, and they have great sportsmanship.”
She added that as a coach, seeing her swimmers succeed is one of the best parts of being involved in the club.
“I was so proud,” she said. “It’s exciting to see when one of your swimmers finishes on the podium and they all finish their races.”
Looking forward to next year, Mills said her future with the club is still up in the air. She expects to finish her post-secondary degree this year, and doesn’t know what next summer will bring.
“Ideally I want to come back, but it’s hard to say,” she said.
As for the swimmers, she said she hopes to build on the success of this year’s season, which saw membership increase by about a dozen swimmers from last year’s 25.
“We’re hoping to increase our numbers again,” Mills said. “Our numbers increased this year from the year before, so we’re heading in the right direction.”
