The past month has been very busy for the Sooke swimmers in Island Swimming, here are some exciting updates.
On May 11-12, Island Swimming hosted the Medley Challenge Meet. This meet was a great racing opportunity for all the swimmers to show off their diversity in all four of the strokes; butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Here are some special highlights: Lucy Bridal took off 20 seconds in the 400 free. Clarke Hopkins achieved a 10 and under-AA time in the 200 free, and Nicholas Ralph took five seconds off in his 50 backstroke.
The swimmers in attendance were: Lucy Bridal, Clarke Hopkins, Nicholas Ralph, Tekahra Tarnowski, and Christian Zakharchuk.
This past weekend (May 25-26) was the Nanaimo Spring Sprint, hosted by the Nanaimo Riptides. Lucy Bridal and Katie Houlahan were the two Sooke swimmers who went up Island for this meet. Both girls qualified for finals in at least three of their events and showed off their mental toughness with two long days of racing. Great job girls.
As the swimming seasons winds to an end, the swimmers are getting ready for their final meet of the year the Vancouver Island Regional (VIR) Championships. To qualify for this meet the swimmers must have achieved at least one A-time in the past year. The following swimmers will be attending VIR Champs next weekend (June 7-9) at Saanich Commonwealth Place; Katie Houlahan, Lucy Bridal, Clark Hopkins, Daniel Prissick, and Nicholas Ralph. Good luck swimmers!
One final shout out to Katie Houlahan who was accepted into the CSI Institute for Sport Excellence at Claremont high school next year. This new program combines high school education with top athletic training from the Victoria Academy of Swimming. Congratulations Katie and good luck.
by Jennika Efford