The Kitimat Marlins made their last swim meet of the year a memorable one – they walked away from the Northwest Holiday Invitational with the silver medal.
The team of 19 swimmers travelled to Terrace to compete in the tournament, which featured teams from Prince Rupert, Terrace and Smithers.
Held at the Terrace Aquatic Centre from December 6 to 8, the tournament was a hard-fought event, old rivals Kitimat and Prince Rupert battling it out for the top spot.
The top six finishers in each race earn points to go towards individual totals and a collective team total. A first-place finish earns 7 points, a second-place finish earns 5, a third earns 4 – you get the idea. The swimmer with the most number of points gets the gold in their division. The team with the most number of points earns the top team award.
Kitimat added six medals to their season’s wins, a proud day for the Park family with all three of their children taking a place on the podium. Anika Park took the silver in the girls’ 9-10 division.
Benjamin earned the bronze spot in the boys 8 and under division and Daniel earned bronze in boys 11-12. Gavin Thomopoulos earned the silver for boys 13-14.
Grayden Rusconi took the bronze in the same division, while Olivia Pearson took the silver in the girls 15 and over division. She tied Gavin Thomopoulos for the most points, with 43 points each.
Also noteworthy is that this was the first-ever competition for Quinn Dennis and Fabian Oerlemans. Head Coach Michelle Lafferty said ‘They did fabulously!’
The biggest time drop for the Marlins came from Gavin Thomopoulos in his 800 m freestyle race. He went from a 10:01:75 to a 9:41:18. Gavin had a good meet, earning best times in all of his races, with one that was a mere tenth of a second off his best time.
Kitimat had seven swimmers complete the difficult task of making best times in all of their individual events. They were: Quinn Dennis, Mason Fernandes, Fabian Oerlemans, Kamryn O’Neil, Anika Park, Benjamin Park and Wynn Runka.
Coach Michelle said ‘she is very proud of the work put in by those who competed in the meet.’
A big thank you goes out to our coaches Michelle Lafferty, April Mendoza, Cynthia Cridge, Charlotte Collier and Liam Velho. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the B.C. government and the District of Kitimat.