Coaches on Winter Series Swim Meet
Local swimmers converged for the Winter Series Swim Meet held on Saturday November 13th.
National Swimming Coach Mr. Ben Smith said, “This meet was a good early season test for all the swimmers. Many of the swimmers were able to produce personal best times and we saw some good improvement. The highlight of the meet was Somer Froud taking close to 2 minutes off the 11&12 1500 free records. She came within 6 tenths of a second of a double a time for Carifta qualification.”
Mimi Smith of the Sharks Swim club said, “Of our 29 juniors who swam in the Winter Series Swim Meet on Saturday, 58% swam multiple PB’s in their events. That is a great percentage considering some swam some events for the first time – so they are not included in those percentages.
Of the 29, 5 juniors achieved B times – some as the first time swimming in that particular event. We would like to highlight all of them, Hazel Roberts, Charlotte Fairies and Holly Bruton in 1 event each and Jessyka Haak and Ethan Daley both achieved in 2 B times. We would also like to single out two female swimmers: Lorena Godwin and Holly Bruton. When Lorena started she had very little confidence in her ability – so much so she did not want to swim in meets. She swam two today – one for the first time and the other achieved a PB. A great personal accomplishment! Holly B is a ‘go-getter’. She will be someone to reckon with in the future. Today at the tender age of 7 she achieved a best time in 100 breast stroke.”
Richard Goodwin Head Coach of the Harbour Swim team stated, “One highlight of the meet was 9 year old Emma Harvey who made her “A” standard in the 50 metres butterfly, which will secure an invitation for her to join the National team.
All of the great swimming performances bode well for the upcoming Winter Age Group Championships, which will be held over the first weekend in December.”
Commenting for the Dolphins Swim team, Trevor Cowan reported, “The Dolphin Swim Team had 131 individual entries, resulting in 61 personal bests (an average improvement of 11.29 sec each).
Special mentions to Alice Branagan, who showed great poise as the only swimmer in the pool for the 200m fly; Liam Peniston, who snagged his first BB time with a solid performance in the 800m free; Madelyn Moore and Evan Farrow who swam a tight race side-by-side in the 800m free; and Gabby Pucci and Megan Lau who swam an exhilarating 400m IM and finished only 0.26 sec apart.
Dolphins had a large number of swimmers tackling new events and longer distances. 56 of the 131 DST entries were first time swims. Counting those first time swims, 33 of our 46 athletes swam all personal bests. Our head Coach Barry Hanson was very pleased with the conduct and sportsmanship of our swimmers regardless of the outcome of the races.”
Mr. Ben Smith closed by saying, “BASA was also hosting a team from Saint Andrews College. Ontario, Canada, and we would like to acknowledge such a polite and friendly group of swimmers. It was a pleasure to have them join us for the meet, and we look forward to welcoming them back next year.”
