submitted photo
L-R Kaiden Rawson, 9, who finished 3^rd overall among 8- and 9-year-old boys in the SEAL league;
and Nadine Osmon, 10, who placed 1^st in the 50M butterfly among 10- and 11-year-old girls.

Chatham, On - Kaiden Rawson, 9, finished 3^rd overall in the 8- and 9-year-old boys group at the St. Clair Erie Aquatic League (SEAL) Swim Championships, after placing 2^nd in the 25M butterfly, 4^th in the 100M Individual Medley (IM) and 5^th in the 25M breaststroke and 50M freestyle. Teammate Nadine Osmon, 10, came 1^st in the 50M butterfly among 10- and 11-year-old girls, and added 5^th place in the 100M freestyle.

In all, 31 members of the Sarnia Y Rapids I Swim Team participated in the Championships in Chatham, on April 28 and 29. Jack Biggar, 10, earned a 6^th-place finish in the 50M breaststroke. Taylor Marut, 7, came 5^th in the 25M breaststroke and 25M freestyle, and 6^th in the 25M butterfly. Luke Young, 13, finished 6^th in the 100M freestyle. Luke was joined by Madison McKinlay and Magaidh Crossland, both 13, and Hannah Lacey, 12, in the medley relay in the 12- and 13-year-old age group, and the team came 6^th in that event.

Team members recorded other notable achievements: among more than 50 girls in her age group, Abby Allardyce, 10, finished 7^th in the 50M breaststroke. Samantha Bedard and Ciara Brown, both 10, and Samantha Lefebvre, 12, improved their personal best times in all their individual events. McKenna Brown, 8, improved her personal best in the 100M IM by more than 12 seconds, while Ella Roland, 9, Ally Core, 11, and Trista Walsh, 12, each improved her best time in that event by more than 5 seconds, Rylynn Haney, also 11, improved her time by more than 16 seconds, and Rachel Dalton, 12, and Zoe Little, 12, each improved hers by more than 10 seconds. Fiona and Hannah Elliott were the top two 8- and 9-year-old swimmers from the Rapids team in the 25M breaststroke and both improved their personal best times in the event. Erin Lacey and Mckenna Jackson, both 9, cracked the Top 10 in the 50M freestyle, among almost 60 swimmers in their age group, finishing 9^th and 10^th respectively. Meghan Jackson, 12, shaved more than 11 seconds off her personal best time in the 100M breaststroke. Connor Phipps, 12, bested his previous time in the 50M butterfly by more than 8 seconds. Simone Roland, 7, came 8^th in the 25M breaststroke, shaving 4 seconds off her best time in that event. Hayden Scott, 8, also had a Top 10 finish, in the 25M backstroke, as did Nes Tulang, 10, in the 50M butterfly.

Also swimming were Ayrianna Batson, 9, Burak Gurtekin, 8, and Abby Warren, 10.