Winter Championship Season - AA Winter Champs

It has been a busy month of racing for SWAT swimmers. Nova Tech 4 on February 17, AA Winter Champs from February 23-25, and David Fry East Coast Champs (AAA) from February 29-March 3.

On to AA Winter Champs

SWAT was represented by 22 swimmers at Acadia University in Wolfville. They raced to 84 best times and 5 first time events. We also had massive success reaching a Top 6 Finals position 61 times and earned 40 medals. Two swimmers joined the AAA ranks, and 3 swimmers were awarded Top 3 High Point Awards.

Novice had 1 representative. Madelynn made the most of her 4 events getting best times in each. She dropped 12 seconds in the 200 Individual Medley and 13 in both the 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke.

Junior sent 10 swimmers earning 31 personal bests and 5 new swims. The group achieved 17 Finals spots and 10 medals. Sam S had 4 best times and qualified for finals in 3 of them. He dropped nearly 8 seconds in the 400 Freestyle earning a Gold Medal. He also earned a silver medal in the 50 Freestyle. Erica R had 2 best times, but more importantly raced her first 200 Butterfly, then qualified for Finals and earned a silver medal in the event dropping 15 seconds and getting under 4:00 at night. Leonie had 3 best times and 3 new swims. She finaled once in the 100 Butterfly. She dropped 4 seconds in the 50 breaststroke and swam under 4:00 for the first time in the 200 Breaststroke. Marco swam to 5 best times, 5 finals, and 4 medals; 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 3 Bronze. He dropped 5 seconds in the 200 Freestyle and cleared the 1:30 plateau in the 100 Backstroke. Ethan also had 5 best times and made one final in the 200m Backstroke. He dropped 6 seconds in the event and passed through the 3:30 barrier. He also dropped 12 seconds in the 200 Individual Medley. Claire struggled with illness and was limited to only a few races, but did achieve a new best time. Sam H had 2 best times and qualified for a second swim in 2 events. He dropped his 100 Freestyle time by 5 seconds and getting below 1:15 for the first time. Addison was perfect 6-for-6 on the weekend. She dropped under 3:30 in the 200 Individual Medley with a 10 second improvement. She also bettered her 200 Breaststroke by 21 seconds. Erica B had 3 best times and a new event. She made finals in 3 events, medalling in each with 2 gold medals and 1 bronze. She is now under 35 seconds in the 50 freestyle, and dropped 4 seconds in the 50 Butterfly.

The Senior Groups led the way with 11 swimmers posting 49 best times, 44 lanes in Finals heats resulting in 30 medals. Landon swam to 2 new best times and three finals swims. He earned a gold and a silver medal in Breaststroke events. The highlight of his weekend was a 28.8 second 50 free relay split. Gabriel C was a perfect 6-for-6 in personal bests. He made one final in the 200 Individual Medley dropping 8 seconds in the event and breaking the 3:00 barrier. He also dropped 9 seconds in the 200 Freestyle. Jack was also 6-for-6 and a finals lane in all 6 events as well. He earned 5 medals: Gold medals in the 50 and 100 Breaststroke, and the 400 Freestyle; and Silver in the 800 Freestyle and 200 Breaststroke. His total results earned him the Second place High Point Award for the 15 and Over Men’s category (behind only another upcoming SWAT swimmer.) Elyse was impressively also 6-for-6 after a week away from training for personal reasons. She qualified for finals in 3 events and earned a bronze medal in the 50 Butterfly. Maggie swam to 4 best times, and 4 finals. Ruby had a strong meet that would have been a perfect 6-for-6 if not for an unfortunate disqualification in the 200 Individual Medley. Otherwise, she had 5 best times, 5 finals, and 3 medals. She was First in the 200 Breaststroke and the 200 Butterfly dropping 4 seconds and 5 seconds respectively; she also broke 3:00 in the 200 Butterfly for the first time. She earned a silver medal in the 100 Breaststroke. Taite had a very strong meet. He was a perfect 6-for-6 with 6 finals and 6 medals. More importantly however, he also qualified for AAA competition for the first time in the 100 Freestyle breaking 1:00 in a big way: all the way down to 58.99. He won gold medals in the 100 and 200 Freestyle, and 100 and 200 Butterfly (dropping over 9 seconds in the 200 Butterfly and cracking 2:30); he earned silver medals in the 50s Freestyle and Butterfly. He performance was more than enough to earn him Top High Point Award for the 15 and Over Men’s category. Owen had 3 bests times and 5 finals. He earned a gold medal in the 100 Backstroke, and silver medals in the 50 and 200 Backstroke. He took off 4 seconds in the 100 Backstroke and another 5 in the 200m distance of the stroke. Audrey made a personal best in the 200 Freestyle and was fast enough in the morning to have a lane at night in the 200 Individual Medley. Jesstine was another r6-for-6 SWAT swimmer. She qualified for 6 finals, won 5 medals and earned her place at AAA competition with big swims in the: 200 Individual Medley, and dropping over 9 seconds in the 200 Breaststroke. Her 5 medals: 1 gold in the 400 Individual Medley, 4 silvers in the 50 Butterfly, 200 Individual Medley, 200 Breaststroke, and 200 Butterfly. She was also recognized as the third Place High Point Award for the 13-14 Women’s category. Emma had 4 best times, 6 finals, and 5 medals. She was second in the 50 Backstroke, and finished third in each of: 200 Backstroke, 200 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, and 100 Backstroke. She is also now flirting with sub 30 second 50 Freestyle after dropping half a second.

Taite and Jesstine continue racing the following weekend at David Fry East Coast Championships. Ruby and Alina join Team Nova Scotia for a meet in Bowdoin, Maine over March Break. The rest of the AA get a bit of a competition break until April.