Pictured, l-r, are: (Back) Taylor Marut, 9, Diane Clarke, 11 and Jack Biggar, 11;
(Front) Kaiden Rawson, 11, Jack Girardi, 8, McKenna Brown, 9 and Gregory Dietrich, 11.
Missing are: Eric Cardinal, 14, Travic Kozak, 7 and Soibhan Lynch, 11.
Ten swimmers from the Sarnia Y Rapids I group earned Top Three finishes at the St. Clair Erie Aquatic League (SEAL) swim meet the team recently hosted in Sarnia. Four of those swimmers earned 1st place ribbons. In total, 54 Rapids swimmers participated in the meet.
McKenna Brown, 9, finished 1st in the 25m butterfly, adding a 3rd place in the 100m Individual Medley (IM) and 5th in the 50m freestyle. Eleven-year-olds Jack Biggar, Diane Clarke and Kaiden Rawson each also earned 1st place finishes. Jack finished 1st in the 50m backstroke and added two 4th place and one 6th place finish. Diane earned her 1st place in the 50m breaststroke, adding a 2nd in the 100m IM, a 3rd in the 100m freestyle and 4th in the 50m butterfly. Kaiden finished 1st in two events – the 100m IM and 50m butterfly, and also finished 3rd in the 100m freestyle.
Earning Top Three finishes were: Eric Cardinal, 14, with 2nd in the 100m backstroke; Gregory Dietrich, 11, with 3rd in the 50m backstroke; Jack Girardi, 8, with 3rd in the 100m IM; Travis Kozak, 7, in all of his individual events; Soibhan Lynch, 11, with 3rd place in the 50m breaststroke; Taylor Marut, 9, in all of her individual swims.
In the 7-and-under category, Lauren Armstrong, 6, improved her personal best times (PBTs) in three of her individual events. Kate Bedard, also 6, finished in the Top 10 in the 25m freestyle, while Daisy Jenkins, 7, cracked the Top 10 in three of her individual events.
Vanessa Dyck, 8, shaved more than 10 seconds off two of her PBTs. Allie Rawson, also 8, placed in the Top 10 in each of her individual events. Fellow 8-year-old Gabrion Tulang beat his previous PBT in the 25m backstroke by more than 16 seconds.
Nine-year-old Tirzah Hayes took 15 seconds off her PBT in the 25m breaststroke, while Zakk Kozak took almost 9 seconds off his PBT in the 100m IM. Ella Savage cracked the Top 10 in the 100m IM and Peter Valdellon improved his PBTs by as much as 22 seconds.
Among the 10-year-olds, Ayrianna Batson beat her previous PBT in the 100m IM by almost 12 seconds, while Olivia Conroy and Sean Foster each bested three of their PBTs. Fellow 10-year-old Nik Mukherjee improved his PBT in the 100m IM by more than 8 seconds. Eleven-year-old Samantha Bedard placed 4th in the 100m freestyle and 5th in the 50m butterfly. Fellow 11-year-olds Tony Cao (finished in the Top 10 in the 50m backstroke), Evelyn Chambers (finished in the Top 10 in the 50m breaststroke), Erin Lacey (earned a ribbon in the 50m backstroke and improved her PBT in the 200m freestyle by almost a full minute) and Olivia Voisey (beat her PBTs in each of her individual swims) also had a strong meet.
Twelve-year-old Dylan Cloud had Top 10 finishes in two of his individual events. Rylynn Haney bested her PBTs in three of her individual swims, while Nadine Osmon earned a ribbon in the 100m IM. Rachel Dalton, 13, cracked the Top 10 in the 100m breaststroke.
Also swimming were Braedan Babenko, 8, Caelan Babenko, 10, Olivia Cunningham, 9, Devan Dyck, 9, Evelyn Ethier, 10, Josie Gilpin, 6, Rebecca Haney, 8, Roy Huzel, 10, Isaac Jones, 8, Hannah Lacey, 13, Ben Lyford, 10, Conor Lynch, 13, Ava Norton, 7, Jagger Norton, 9, Annabelle Rayson, 8, Nicolas Salisbury, 13, Emma Slakmon, 13, Nes Tulang, 12, Adam Voisey, 8, Trista Walsh, 13, and Isabella Wright, 7.
The Sarnia Y Rapids 1 swimmers are coached by Sue Athanasopoulos. Many of the team members are fitness swimmers, and this was their first competition. This group’s next meet is in Blenheim, on January 12.
