submitted photo

A winning relay team was among 42 swimmers from the Sarnia Y Rapids I swim team who participated in a recent St. Clair Erie Aquatic League (SEAL) swim meet in Windsor. Lauren Armstrong and Kate Bedard, both 6, and Daisy Jenkins, 7, finished 1^st in the 7-and-under 100m freestyle relay. Lauren also earned 5^th place ribbons in the 25m butterfly and breaststroke events. Kate placed 3^rd in the 25m butterfly, and 4^th in the 25m breaststroke. Daisy came 3^rd in the 25m backstroke, 4^th in the 25m butterfly and 5^th in the 25m freestyle. Eleven-year-old Kaiden Rawson also finished 1^st at the meet, winning the 50m backstroke, and adding 3^rd place in the 100m Individual Medley (IM), 4^th in the 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle, and 5^th in the 100m butterfly.

Several of their teammates finished in the Top 3 in one or more individual events. Jack Biggar, 12, came 2^nd in the 100m IM, and 3^rd in the 50m butterfly. He added a 4^th place finish in the 100m freestyle and 5^th in the 100m breaststroke. Thirteen-year-old Dylan Cloud earned a 3^rd place finish in the 100m IM, as well as a 4^th place in the 50m butterfly, 5^th in the 100m freestyle, and 6^th in the 100m breaststroke. Rachel Dalton, 14, placed 3^rd in the 100m breaststroke, along with 4^th in the 100m IM and backstroke, 5^th in the 50m butterfly and 6^th in the 100m freestyle. Nine-year-old Jack Girardi finished 3^rd in the 100m IM and 25m breaststroke. He also placed 4^th in the 25m butterfly and backstroke events, and 6^th in the 200m freestyle. Fellow nine-year-old Taylor Marut earned 3^rd place in the 100m IM and 25m butterfly, along with 4^th in the 25m breaststroke and 5^th in the 200m freestyle. Brandon Neelin, 12, came 2^nd in the 50m butterfly and added 6^th place finishes in the 100m IM and freestyle.

In the 8- and 9-year-old group, Braedan Babenko, 8, finished in the Top 10 in each of his individual events. Devan Dyck, 9, sliced almost 30 seconds from his personal best time (PBT) in the 100m IM. His sister, Vanessa, 8, improved her PBT in the 50m freestyle event by more than 8 seconds, while Travis Kozak and Isabella Wright, also 8, each took almost 15 seconds off their PBT in that event, and fellow eight-year-old Sarah Phipps and nine-year-old Gabrion Tulang bettered their PBTs in each of their individual events. Allie Rawson, 9, cracked the Top 10 in three of her individual swims. Ella Savage, also 9, shaved 24 seconds from her previous PBT in the 100m IM.

Among 10- and 11-year-olds, Ayrianna Batson, McKenna Brown, Zakk Kozak and Nik Mukherjee, all 10, improved each of their PBTs in individual swims. Olivia Conroy, also 10, beat her own PBTs in four events, while fellow 10-year-old Sean Foster bested three of his PBTs and Peter Valdellon, also 10, improved his time in the 100m IM by 7 seconds. Erin Lacey, 11, earned a 4^th place ribbon in the 50m backstroke, and finished in the Top 10 in all of her events. Fellow 11-year-old Sean Phipps took time off his PBTs in four of his swims.

Twelve-year-old Ciara Brown finished in the Top 10 in four of her events, while bettering her PBTs in three of them.  Diane Clarke, also 12, improved her PBTs in two events. Fellow 12-year-old Gregory Dietrich earned a 5^th place ribbon in the 100m IM and shaved 14 seconds off his PBT in the 100m backstroke. Faith Jamieson, 12, bettered three of her PBTs while 13-year-old Rylynn Haney beat two of her own. Nadine Osmon, 12, came 4^th in the 50m butterfly and 6^th in the 100m freestyle, while Nes Tulang, also 12, took more than 10 seconds off her PBT in the 100m breaststroke.

Connor Phipps, 14, placed 4^th in the 100m freestyle and 5^th in the 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke and breaststroke. Trista Walsh, also 14, finished 6^th in the 100m breaststroke.

Also swimming were Annabelle Rayson, 8, Caelan Babenko and Arianah Dreise, 10, and Samantha Bedard and Taryn Daly, 12.

The Sarnia Y Rapids 1 swimmers are coached by Sue Athanasopoulos. This group’s end-of-season championship meet is in Leamington, on April 26-27.