Last weekend the Campbell River Killer Whales were busy racing at two meets in different parts of the province.
Locally, the younger swimmers shone at the annual CRKW Eliminator, while the top swimmers in the club were competing in New Westminster at the Western Canadian National Championships.
At the CRKW Eliminator, fast riser Cole Reid continue to have a fantastic season and get his first AA qualifying time in the 1500 freestyle, taking off over a minute in the last month alone to get there. He then went on to swim to a huge best time in the 400 Free just missing his second AA standard, allowing him to qualify for the AA Provincial Championships that are coming up on Feb. 28 - March 2.
Kira and Carson Dunn also stood out from the crowd, both having their best meet of the season. Kira qualified for the Vancouver Island Regionals for the first time taking off six seconds in her 50 Free, with Carson having a break-out swim in his 100 Fly just missing his AAA qualification standard. Sophia Simard also got her first Vancouver Island Regional cut in the 50 Free, as well as had a great meet overall, including three flipturns in her first ever 100 Back. One of the Killer Whale junior coaches, Sabrina Jordan, also had a great meet where she went best times for the first time this season and attributes it to her new found love of coaching the junior swimmers.
While all this was going on back home, Jenna Beaudin, David Palmer, Conner Skuse, Mackenzie Padington and Head Coach Darryl Rudolf were competing against the top swimmers in the country at Western National Championships in New Westminster. Beaudin was much improved from last year at this meet getting a best time in her 200 Breaststroke moving up 10 spots in the rankings. Palmer and Skuse were also strong in the 200 Breaststroke, with Skuse breaking Alec Page’s club record by six seconds. Palmer swam his way into a B final and a second swim.
Skuse finished the meet with a best time in the 200 IM and 1500 Free, placing him top 10 in the country in both for 14-year-old boys.
The swim of the meet was definitely Padington with a huge swim in her 400 Free on the third night of racing. After a strong start to the meet, she was very excited for one of her premier events, the 400 FR. She would end up swimming to a bronze medal performance in the 15 and under girls final, with a time that places her second in the country and eighth fastest ever in BC for 14 year old girls.
It was definitely a very busy and exciting weekend for the Killer Whales which was all made possible by the countless hours of volunteering that the parents put in preparing and flawlessly running the CRKW Eliminator, as well as the support from the whole club for our swimmers that were swimming on the National stage.