Winter Provincials Recap

Winter Provincial Recap

 

This past weekend saw 21 LASC swimmers make the trip up north to Edmonton to compete at the 2025 Alberta Winter Provincial Championships. The meet acts as the premier racing competition for age group swimmers in the province. With Alberta having some of the stiffest qualifying times in the country, it’s a great accomplishment just to qualify for the meet.

 

It didn’t take long for LASC swimmers to make their presence known at the meet as day one kicked off with the 100m Butterfly and LASC saw Kate Hill, Jake Odorski, and JJ Koop make A Finals in their 100 Fly along with Naoise Gelber and Elio Peruffo making Best of the Rest Finals. LASC continued to shine in the immediate event following, 50m Backstroke, where LASC struck their first medals of the weekend. Daniel Alexander turned in an impressive bronze medal performance before Taylor Ginther wowed the crowd as she put up an impressive 29.93 for the win in her final. Despite being in the 15 year old category, the time stood as the fastest at the meet in any age category and rewrites the LASC history books as the first time we have had a woman go a sub 30 second 50 backstroke. Other races in the 50 Back saw Kayden Uys and Aki Oshima make their first splash into finals for the weekend as they made their way into their A-Final and Best of the Rest Finals respectively. Battling through severe sickness, Anderson Williams toughed it out and saw his highest finish of 22nd place in the 50 back prelims. The last individual event of the night saw Alex Ginther and Riley Ginther take on the 200 Breast with Alex rising to a new PB and Bronze medal for her efforts, with Riley not too far behind in 5th. Aaron Friesen and Emery MacKenzie added points for the team as both swam their way to top 10 finishes. The night ended with the 4x200 Free Relays where LASC saw all three relays swim to club records. The teams of Alex Ginther, Emery MacKenzie, Tay Odorski, Kate Machacek and JJ Koop, Aaron Friesen, Kayden Uys, Bentley Eastman established new marks for the club in the 13-14 age category. Meanwhile the team of Calyn Lothian, Carly Beck, Kaitlin Kozub, and Taylor Ginther broke both the age group (15-17) and open club record, the latter standing since 2010.

 

Friday saw another strong start out the gates for LASC, this time with the 200 Backstroke. Earlier in the morning, Bentley Eastman and Kya Pratt got off to hot starts, as they both dropped over 5 seconds from their previous best as Bentley secured one of his highest finishes at the meet and Kya stormed her way into a Best of the Rest Final. At night, Daniel kicked the session off adding to his bronze from the night before by dialing in a silver medal performance in the Open category of 200 Back. The next event up, the 50 Free, saw LASC well represented across the board as 10 swimmers made it back for finals. Kate Hill found her first medal of the weekend with a Bronze finish before Kate Machacek and Taylor Ginther both added Gold medal performances to the teams overall haul. Kate was joined in her final by Riley Ginther and Taya Odorski, while Calyn Lothian finished 4th in her final, a mere 4 hundredths off a podium spot. Emery MacKenzie added another final to her weekend as she finished 9th in the 14 year old Final. On the men’s side, JJ Koop and Jake Odorski both made their second final of the weekend as JJ added a 9th place finish and Jake showed out with a 4th place finish. The 100 Breaststroke came in with excitement as both Riley Ginther and Aaron Friesen saw big time drops to secure silver medals for both swimmers. Alex Ginther joined Riley in the 100 Breast, racing her way to a 4th place finish. Calyn capped off the individual swims with a 4th place finish in the 400 Free. The race featured lots of lead changes and back and forth racing as 2nd through 4th finished less than 2 seconds apart. The night ended similarly to Thursday as LASC saw three relays step up and three club records come falling down. The team of Kate Machacek, Taya Odorski, Riley Ginther, and Alex Ginther put up huge swims to come 6th and set a 13-14 club record. The team of JJ Koop, Aaron Friesen, Kayden Uys, and Bentley Eastman also came together to set the boys 13-14 club record. And in our last race of the night, the LASC 15&O Girls, Kate Hill, Taylor Ginther, Naoise Gelber, and Calyn Lothian, had an electric battle with the University of Calgary and Edmonton Keyano swim clubs. All of the girls stepped up and swam well under their official 100 Free best times as they put together a tremendous team effort that was capped off by Calyn delivering the fastest split in the field to finish in 2nd with a new overall club record.

 

Saturday saw a slightly shorter day as there were no relays but LASC swimmers showed themselves capable of making the most of all their chances. LASC found themselves in quite a groove in the 50 Breaststroke as we put up 4 of the 10 finalists for the Girls 13&U race. Riley Ginther powered her way to a new PB and her first ever trials cut for the win with a time that puts her 2nd in the country for 13 year olds. Hot on her tail were the trio of Taya Odorski, Alex Ginther, and Kate Machacek, who collected 2nd, 4th, and 9th places as all saw themselves securing new personal bests. The medals kept coming over the next two finals as Emery MacKenzie and Taylor Ginther both picked up silver medals in the 14 and 15 year old categories. Calyn capped off the women's side with a 7th place finish in the 16 year old category. Aaron Friesen made sure the boys were represented too as he charged his way to a large best time and grabbed a silver medal while coming within a couple of tenths of the club record. Later in the session, Carly made her A-Final debut in the 200 Free as she scored a Top 10 Finish. Kate Hill and Kaitlin Kozub both battled together in the Best of the Rest Final as Kaitlin saw her first Finals race of the weekend. Calyn came back shortly after her 50 Breast to race in the finals of the 200 Free where she found herself in another exciting end to end race as she placed third for her first individual medal of the weekend. The difference between the top 3 swimmers in that race was less than one second apart as all three battled from start to finish. The night ended with a flurry of 100 backstrokes as Aki and Kya found their way into the Best of the Rest final on the women's side, while Elio Peruffo, Kayden Uys, and Jake Odorski swam into either Best of the Rest or A-Finals for their respective races. The last medal of the night came from Taylor Ginther’s 100 Back as she roared to another gold medal performance and matched her previous best time exactly, winning the race by over half a second.

 

On the last day during the morning Heats, Carly Beck found herself competing in the Timed Finals races of the 800 Free as she saw a new lifetime best and a 7th place finish to add. The final night of races got off quick with the 100 Freestyle. Kate Hill found herself in the first race of the evening and moved herself to a 6th place finish. Another example of a tight finish, 2nd through 6th were separated by less than half a second in the final. Good placements kept coming as Kate Machacek gave a little outside lane heat to move up from 9th in prelims to a 5th place finish in the 13&U Final. Shortly after, Taylor and Calyn added more hardware with a Gold and Bronze medal performance in the 15 and 16 year old categories. The last races for LASC consisted of some 50 Fly splash and dashes. Kate Hill repeated her 6th place finish in the 50 before Taya added a 10th place finish in her final. The last women's race of the weekend saw Taylor repeat her gold medal performance with one last win and personal best for the weekend. LASC capped the weekend off in style as Jake Odorski won a silver medal in his 50 Fly race and the last race for the team. 

 

In total, the 4 day competition saw LASC swimmers set 80 new personal bests through Heats and Finals, 2 individual club records and 6 relay club records, numerous All Time Top 10 Rankings, and picking up 20 individual medals and 1 relay medal along the way. LASC as a team finished in 3rd place out of the medium sized teams.

 

Youth Recognition Awards

Swimmers in the Province who have achieved a Youth Recognition Time Standard are recognized by Swim Alberta for their achievement. Youth Recognition Time Standards are based on the average time it takes to be ranked 1st or 10th in the country over a 5 year running average.

 

T10 - Jake Odorski (50 Free)

T10 - Calyn Lothian (50 Free, 100 Free)

T10 - Taylor Ginther (50 Free, 100 Back)

T10 - Riley Ginther (100 Breast)

T10 - Kate Machacek (50 Free)

 

Provincial Title Winners

 

Riley Ginther

13&U Provincial Champion - 50 Breaststroke

 

Taylor Ginther

15 Year Old Provincial Champion - 50 Freestyle, 50 Backstroke, 100 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle and 50 Butterfly

 

Kate Machacek

13&U Provincial Champion - 50 Freestyle

 

 

Summary of Results

Daniel Alexander: 50 Back - 3rd🥉, 200 Back - 2nd🥈

Carly Beck - 50 Free - 22nd, 400 Free - 18th, 200 Free - 10th, 100 Free - 22nd, 800 Free - 7th

Bentley Eastman: 50 Back - 19th, 200 Back - 20th, 50 Free - 32nd, 200 Free - 34th, 100 Back - 21st, 100 Free - 30th, 200 IM - 27th

Aaron Friesen: 200 Breast - 6th, 50 Free - 18th, 100 Breast - 2nd🥈, 50 Breast - 2nd🥈, 100 Back - 35th, 100 Free - 27th, 50 Fly - 25th

Naoise Gelber: 100 Fly - 16th, 50 Free - 11th, 100 Free - 13th, 50 Fly - 10th

Alex Ginther: 200 Breast - 3rd🥉, 200 Back - 24th, 100 Breast - 4th, 50 Breast - 4th, 200 IM - 7th, 50 Fly - 20th

Riley Ginther: 200 Breast - 5th, 50 Free - 6th, 100 Breast - 2nd🥈, 50 Breast - 1st🥇, 100 Back - 25th, 100 Free - 20th, 50 Fly - 24th

Taylor Ginther: 50 Back - 1st 🥇, 50 Free - 1st 🥇, 50 Breast - 2nd 🥈, 100 Back - 1st 🥇, 100 Free - 1st 🥇, 50 Fly - 1st 🥇

Kate Hill: 100 Fly - 8th, 50 Back - 16th, 50 Free - 3rd🥉, 200 Free - 12th, 100 Free - 6th, 50 Fly - 6th

JJ Koop: 100 Fly - 8th, 50 Back - 31st, 50 Free - 9th, 200 Free - 12th, 100 Back- 27th, 100 Free - 14th, 50 Fly - 11th

Kaitlin Kozub: 100 Fly - 21st, 50 Back - 21st, 50 Free - 18th, 200 Free - 13th, 100 Back - 15th, 100 Free - 19th, 50 Fly - 19th

Calyn Lothian: 50 Free - 4th, 400 Free - 4th, 50 Breast - 7th, 200 Free - 3rd 🥉, 100 Free - 3rd🥉

Kate Machacek: 100 Fly - 31st, 200 Breast - 22nd, 50 Free - 1st 🥇, 100 Breast - 17th, 50 Breast - 9th, 200 Free - 13th, 100 Free - 5th, 50 Fly - 11th

Emery MacKenzie: 200 Breast - 9th, 50 Free - 9th, 100 Breast - 5th, 50 Breast - 2nd🥈, 200 IM - 22nd, 50 Fly - 10th

Jake Odorski: 100 Fly - 9th, 50 Free - 4th, 50 Breast - 22nd, 100 Back - 10th, 100 Free - 10th, 50 Fly - 2nd 🥈

Taya Odorski: 50 Back - 21st, 50 Free - 7th, 100 Breast - 6th, 50 Breast - 2nd🥈, 100 Back - 24th, 100 Free - 11th, 50 Fly - 10th

Aki Oshima: 50 Back - 15th, 50 Free - 25th, 100 Back - 15th, 100 Free - 20th, 50 Fly - 20th 

Elio Peruffo: 100 Fly - 13th, 50 Back - 12th, 50 Free - 11th, 100 Breast - 17th, 200 Free - 14th, 100 Back - 10th

Kya Pratt: 50 Back - 22nd, 200 Back - 13th, 50 Free - 28th, 100 Back - 16th, 100 Free - 17th, 50 Fly - 19th

Kayden Uys: 100 Fly - 22nd, 50 Back - 9th, 200 Back - 24th, 50 Free - 16th, 200 Free - 27th, 100 Back - 9th, 100 Free - 18th, 50 Fly - 16th

Anderson Williams: 50 Back - 22nd, 50 Free - 24th, 50 Breast - 24th, 50 Fly - 29th

 

14&U Girls 800 Free Relay: Alex Ginther, Emery MacKenzie, Taya Odorski, Kate Machacek - 13th

15&O Girls 800 Free Relay: Calyn Lothian, Kaitlin Kozub, Carly Beck, Taylor Ginther - 6th

14&U Boys 800 Free Relay: JJ Koop, Aaron Friesen, Kayden Uys, Bentley Eastman - 15th

14&U Girls 400 Free Relay: Kate Machacek, Taya Odorski, Riley Ginther, Alex Ginther - 6th

15&O Girls 400 Free Relay: Kate Hill, Taylor Ginther, Naoise Gelber, Calyn Lothian - 2nd 🥈

14&U Boys 400 Free Relay: JJ Koop, Kayden Uys, Aaron Friesen, Bentley Eastman - 10th