Summer Divisionals - Kelowna

This past weekend saw a group of Inconnu swimmers take a trip down south to participate in the summer edition of the Northern & Interior Divisionals. Julien Kemp, Ryder Modde, Viggo Pedersen, Rylan Pomeroy, Kieran Rogers, Nate Rogers, Elias Stirling, Mason Stirling, and Mya Waberski suited up to represent the team. A total of fourteen teams from across BC made the trip to Kelowna to compete in the Championship meet. The swimmers are split into two genders and three age groups, 12&U, 13-14, 15&O while competing.

The initial Friday morning saw seventeen preliminary swims as the athletes looked to kick off the meet on the right foot. Of those swims, nine were able to earn a spot in Finals, with Nate, Ryder, and Mason able to pick up hardware in the session. Nate was immediately able to make his presence known as a major player at the meet as he stormed his way to back-to-back bronze medals in the opening two events, the 200m Individual Medley and 100m Back. Julien was able to drop over 3 seconds to move up to a 6^th place finish in his own 200 IM. Ryder dropped more than a second from his entry time in the 100m Back to secure the silver in his first event of the evening. Ryder would finish the night off dropping almost 20 seconds and moving up from third to claim his first gold of the weekend in the 400m Free. Finishing off the evening’s medal haul was Mason Stirling who gave a preview of the rest of his weekend as he dashed his way to a 50m Breast silver. Viggo swam to his own 5^th place finish in the 15&O Final of the 50 Breast. The relay team of Viggo Pedersen, Julien Kemp, Nate Rogers, and Rylan Pomeroy were just off the podium in 4^th as they raced to the team’s season best time in the 4 X 50 Freestyle Relay - the same team was a full two seconds faster at this meet than their last relay in February at the winter edition of this meet. 

Saturday was the busiest day for the team as they went through twenty-five preliminary swims along with fourteen finals appearances. Mya Waberski got her weekend kicked off by taking in two lifetime bests in the 200m and 50m Freestyle. Elias Stirling got to swim his first event of his first Divisional meet as he took on the 100m Breaststroke, gaining a new short course best time. Ryder and Nate continued their strong showings as Ryder added a Bronze in the night's first event, 200m Free, and Nate finishing 4^th for the same race in his age category, only 5 hundredths away from the bronze medal position. Both Nate and Ryder continued the night in impressive fashion, immediately stepping up to both win Silver’s in their respective 50m Butterfly races. Rylan made significant moves with his preliminary butterfly swim, knocking off a second and moving up four placings. Nate and Ryder would both end their night by securing medals in the 50m Freestyle as well, with Nate picking up his 3rd Bronze medal of the weekend and Ryder taking top spoils as he also broke 30 seconds for the first time in his life. Other events in the night saw Mason, Kieran, and Viggo race in their respective 100m Breast Finals with Mason taking almost 4 seconds off in order to add another Silver to his collection. Both Julien and Rylan dropped more than a second enroute to their 3^rd and 6^th place finishes in the 200 Back. In one of swimming’s most brutal races, the 400m Individual Medley, two Inconnu swimmers stepped up in both their swims and their way to the podium. Ryder was able to knock over 10 seconds off his seed time on his way to a gold medal, while Julien knocked almost 20 seconds off his seed time to move from 6^th to a bronze medal for himself. The relay team of Julien, Mason, Rylan, and Viggo combined to set another team's season best in the 4 X 50 Medley relay to finish 4th.

The third and final day began with fourteen preliminary swims translating into six final swims. The night kicked off in exciting fashion as Mason found himself in a three-way fight to the finish in the 200m Breaststroke. Mason ultimately touched in 3^rd for the bronze medal with the top 3 being within 1.5 seconds of each other. The 100m Freestyle was an exciting race for the club as nearly every swimmer gained a lifetime best. Julien broke 60 seconds for the first time, while Rylan and Viggo moved up to the door with their own 60 second swims. At night in finals, Ryder and Nate were able to garner additional hardware for the team.  Ryder took out his race like a rocket and never looked back to take in his fourth and final gold medal. In the following final Nate used the fastest 2nd 50 of the field to gain a new best time and silver medal. Shortly following the 100m Free, Rylan and Julien competed in the 50m Backstroke as they came to 7^th and 5^th place finishes respectively. The meet drew to a close as Nate placed 5^th in his 100m fly to end a great meet for the club.

In the end the team walked away with 4 Gold, 6 Silver, 7 Bronze Medals, best times in 46 events and the boys were able to get themselves a 3^rd place finish on the team rankings. The meet served as an excellent opportunity for the swimmers to experience different competitors in new pools and regions. For all of the swimmers, this was their first time racing at Kelowna and many of the competitors were either new or somewhat unfamiliar. It gave each of them a platform to showcase the hard work they have put in throughout the season and reap the benefits of training. Travel meets like this to new destinations also give the swimmers a chance to experience swimming in a new way with social events and meet memories added to the overall experience.

In other news, congratulations to Ryder Modde, Kieran Rogers, and Mya Waberski who have been selected to represent Zone 8 at the upcoming 2022 BC Summer Games in Prince George. The swimmers will leave town near the end of July to take part in the week long festivities and we will be wishing them the best of luck.

Total Results