By Tim Baker
A group of Marlins swimmers came back from the Prince George Northern Medical Sprint Meet sporting a few gold and silver medals.
The meet, held from November 16 to 18, fielded 45 swimmers from the Points North Northwest Regional Swim Association.
The eight Kitimat swimmers, Olivia Pearson, Hannah Pearson, Iris Striker, Halle Gray, Grayden Rusconi, Nolen Knox, Dallas Gray and Jacob Van Horne all scored points for the northwest.
Highlights of the racing were 10-year-old boys Jackob Van Horne and Dallas Gray scoring gold and silver respectively in their age group for 200 meters freestyle; first and second respectively in 25 meters butterfly, 100 meters breaststroke, and 100 meters freestyle.
Van Horne also landed a first in the 50 meters backstroke and Gray raced to first place finishes in 100 meters individual medley, 50 meters breaststroke and 50 meters freestyle.
Break-through results came from Olivia Pearson, age 14, with a whopping six-second reduction in the 200-meter breaststroke event and a first-place finish; and Grayden Rusconi, finishing with a 1.8 second personal best and a first-place finish in the same event for boys ages 11-12 years of age.
Both swimmers blasted through the three-minute barrier for this event, a huge benchmark in what is often considered an event tougher than 200 meters butterfly and 400 meters individual medley.
“The attention to detail shown by these swimmers over the weekend was a big step forward,” said Marlins head coach Michele Greb. “We’ve been focussing almost entirely on updating their strokes and racing techniques to contemporary levels our first three months this season. Our next training phase starts putting the pressure on for aerobic capacity and it will be very exciting to see what the next two competitions bring.”
B.C.’s younger swimmers only have until early January to reach qualifying times for the provincial championships, while the older age group swimmers have until the end of January, making competitions in December and January the last chance to make provincial time standards for short course (25-meter pool) provincial championships.
Additional results for the Marlins swimmers are as follows:
Halle Gray (9): 200 freestyle- 17th, personal best; 25 meters butterfly- 6th, personal best; 50 meters backstroke- 18th; 100 meters breaststroke- 20th; 50 meters breaststroke- 16th, personal best; 50 meters freestyle- 19th100 meters individual medley- 17th.
Dallas Gray (10): 200FR 2nd, personal best; 25FLY 2nd, personal best; 100BR 2nd, personal best; 100FR 2nd; 50BR 1st, personal best;50FR 1st, personal best; 100IM 1st, personal best.
Jacob Van Horne (10): firsts and personal bests in the following- 200FR, 25FLY, 50BK, 100BR. First in 100FR.
Hannah Pearson (16): 6th in 100IM; 5th in 50FLY; 3rd in 50BK; 6th in 100FR; 4th in 50BR; 6th in 100BK.
Iris Striker (15): 9th in 100IM; 9th in 200FR; 4th in 50BK; 9th in 200IM; 5th in 400FR; 4th in 50FR; 13th in 100BK.
Grayden Rusconi (12): 1st and personal best 100IM; 3rd in 50FLY; 1st and personal best in 100BR; 3rd in 100FR; 1st and personal best in 50BR; 2nd in 50FR; 1st and personal best in 200BR.
Nolen Knox (15): 5th and personal best 100IM; 6th 50FLY; 7th and personal best 50BK; 8th in 100FR; 11th in 50FR; 8th in 100FLY.
Olivia Pearson (14): 3rd in 100IM; 6th in 50FLY; 1st and personal best in 100BR; 1st and personal best in 50BR; 1st and personal best in 200BR.
At least three new qualifying times for BC age group provincials were achieved (awaiting final results), making for a total of minimum 12 qualifying times done in the first two competitions and three months this season for the Marlins swimmers.
For more information please contact the Kitimat Marlins Swim Club by telephone 250-632-8470 or via email kitimatmarlins@gmail.com