Winter Provincials

This past weekend saw four Inconnu swimmers head down south to compete in the BC Winter Provincial Championships with Owen Lang, Alex McDonald, Ryder Modde, and Nate Rogers representing the team. The meet was held at the Saanich Commonwealth Pool in Victoria with Short Course Prelims and Long Course Finals.

BC Provincial Championships is one of the premier swim meets hosted in the province with swimmers needing to qualify in previous meets by swimming under tough time standards in order to race in each event. Owen Lang and Alex McDonald had attained most of their provincial standards by December of this season so they have been ready and focused on racing certain events at this meet. For Ryder Modde and Nate Rogers, most of their provincial times have been garnered over the past two months. Both swimmers racked up numerous medals at last month’s North & Interior Divisionals and en route swam under multiple qualifying standards.

The four day swim meet kicked off on Thursday May 10th with all swimmers competing from day one. Ryder and Nate started the weekend with 100 Back races, both were just off their personal bests from last month, going 1:19.81 and 1:08.90 respectively and placing inside the top 30 for their age category. Owen, Alex, and Ryder followed up with performances in the 50 Breast. Owen swam to a 33.02, his second fastest ever. Alex swam to a new lifetime best of 30.39 and just missed making the Final by one spot and only eight-hundredths. However the swim still came 9th for the 15-17 category at the meet and ranks 4th all-time for Inconnu. Ryder was able to sneak into the Final for the 11-12 category by getting into the 8th and final spot, along with a new best of 38.27, only 4 hundredths ahead of 9th. In long course finals he was able to improve upon his time and placing, rising to 6th with a 37.93; that swim places him 2nd all-time in Inconnu’s 11-12 age group record board.

The next morning kicked off with Owen, Alex, and Nate all competing in one of the sport’s marquee events, the 100 Free. Nate swam to near best of 1:00.40 placing in the top 40, Owen knocked over a second off his lifetime best to swim a 54.48, coming 31st, and Alex swam a 54.14 best time to come 26th. Both swims for Owen and Alex have them in the top 10 all-time for Inconnu. Ryder swam to a new best time in the 200 Breast with his 3:01.44 and was tantalizingly close to finals placing 9th in the morning. The swim represented a 5 second drop from his previous best. Alex and Ryder closed the session off with the 50 Back as Alex knocked a second off his best to go 28.63 with Ryder just missing his best with a 37.46. Both Ryder’s 200 Breast and Alex’s 50 Back are top 5 for Inconnu all time in their respective age groups. 

Saturday saw the most swims, and best times, for Inconnu and began with Owen, Alex, and Nate all performing to lifetime bests in the 50 fly as they went  26.54 - 16th, 26.41 - 13th, and 30.15 - 31st respectively. Owen and Alex now occupy spots 5 and 4 all time for Inconnu. Not to be outdone by these performances Owen and Alex stood up again, along with Ryder, to compete in the 100 Breast. Owen swam his third fastest 100 Breast in a 1:11.67 placing just outside the top 50. Alex was able to take almost 3 seconds off his lifetime best to swim a 1:06.72 and come 11th, only half a second away from a finals position. In an almost mirror-like fashion, Ryder swam to a 1:24.25 to also place 11th, less than half a second away from a finals position, and scoring a new best time with 6 seconds being taken off his previous best. Both Alex and Ryder improve on their age category ranking to move into top 5 spots in Inconnu.

The final day on Sunday kicked off with the splash and dash 50 Free which saw both Owen and Alex go under 25 seconds for the first time officially as they went 24.84 - 23rd, and 24.60 - 17th respectively. Those swims also rank 8th and 3rd for Inconnu. Nate started his day with a 200 Back that was within half a second of his best, placing 23rd with a 2:26.67. With roughly only 15 minutes rest between, Nate had to step on the block to swim a gutsy 100 Fly where he swam to a 1:08.98 - 25th place finish. Our last swim of the weekend saw Owen take nearly a second off his lifetime best 100 Fly time as he went 1:00.24 to come 30th and almost slip under the minute mark. The time improves his top 5 ranking with Inconnu.

The meet provided each swimmer with opportunities to learn and improve while simultaneously giving them the platform to showcase their performances. It was a well deserved accomplishment for many of them that has been earned through months of training, skill acquisition and determination. 

Results Recap

Owen Lang

50 Breast: 33.02 - 54th, 100 Free: 54.48 - 31st, 50 Fly: 26.54 - 16th, 100 Breast: 1:11.67 - 50th, 50 Free: 24.84 - 23rd, 100 Fly: 1:00.24 - 30th

Alex McDonald

50 Breast: 30.39 - 9th, 100 Free: 54.14 - 26th, 50 Back: 28.63 - 32nd, 50 Fly: 26.41 - 13th, 100 Breast: 1:06.72 - 11th, 50 Free: 24.60 - 17th

Ryder Modde

100 Back: 1:19.81 - 23rd, 50 Breast: Prelims- 38.27 - 8th, Finals- 37.93 - 6th, 200 Breast: 3:01.44 - 9th, 50 Back: 37.46 - 37th, 100 Breast: 1:24.25 - 11th, 200 IM: 2:49.28 - 30th

Nate Rogers

100 Back: 1:08.90 - 26th, 100 Free: 1:00.40 - 37th, 50 Fly: 30.15 - 31st, 200 Back: 2:26.72 - 23rd, 100 Fly: 1:08.98 - 25th