Seven clubs including the hometown Yorkton Storm Speed Swimming Club recently took part in their season opening meet. The event had over 80 registered swimmers take part in the one day meet.
Storm Head Coach Ashley Benko says the meet was a huge success. "The meet was a great way to kick off our season, especially for our younger swimmers.
"Swimming your first meet in your hometown pool is a little less intimidating than starting out in Regina at the Lawson Aquatic Centre, or in Saskatoon at the Shaw Centre."
Meet Manager Trevor Baker was quick to thank all of the volunteers. "Hats off to all of the volunteers, many of them swim parents, who all pitched in to ensure that the meet was a success."
"It takes quite a crew of people to pull off a meet of this size, I am very pleased with the support we received from the volunteers."
Jennifer Slowski, YSSC Board Member and Fundraising Chair was also quick to thank the local Yorkton businesses that contributed financially to make the meet a success.
According to Slowski there were four Platinum Sponsors of the meet that contributed $500.00, those businesses were the Painted Hand Casino, Cornerstone Credit Union, Audio Warehouse and Sask Lotteries.
There were several local businesses that contributed $300.00 to the swim meet and were recognized as Gold Sponsors. The YSSC would like to thank; Schmidt Homes Ltd., Wade Windjack of Remax, Farrell Agencies Ltd., Yorkton & District Co-Op, Mr. Mikes Steakhouse Casual, Sask-tel, and Dr. Cottenie, Dr. Bowtell, Dr. Marie Hawreluik - Family Dentistry. Without the financial support of the Platinum and Gold Sponsors the meet would not be possible.
Several Yorkton swimmers managed to crack the podium at the event as well.
Randi Jones led the way for the Storm creating quite a hurricane in her first meet of the season.
Jones swam six races and never finished lower than third. She ended the meet with three first place finishes in the 50m Butterfly, Breaststroke, and 100m Breaststroke, she had two second place finishes in the 50m and 100m Freestyle. Randi's lone third place finish was in the 50m Backstroke.
Auston Roberts took time off of his personal best swims all four of his races.
He collected first place finishes in all four races as well, but perhaps his most impressive effort was the 50m Butterfly event where Roberts took off 3.93 seconds.
Tia Slowski had a great meet finishing with three first place finishes in the 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle. She also added second place finishes in the 50m Butterfly and Breaststroke events.
Tasso Stamatinos swam his way to two first place finishes in the 50m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle, while battling his way to second place in the 100m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle events.
Matlyn Bulych had a strong meet capturing three second place ribbons in the 50m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke and Freestyle events while her sister Anna stepped up onto the podium after finishing third in the 100m Backstroke event.
Tea Rohatensky started her season off with three top three finishes. She finished second in the 50m and 100m Freestyle events and added a third place finish in the 50m Butterfly.
Robyn Jones finished third in the 200m Freestyle event. She was joined by newcomer to the competitive swim club Andrea Stickwood, who placed second in the 100m Breaststroke.
Mia Cottenie also competed in her first meet with the club and had fantastic results. Mia placed first in the 50m Backstroke along with a strong second place showing in the 100m Backstroke event.
Eight-year-old Owen Watrych was awarded the team's "Storm Chaser Award." This award is given to the swimmer that shows the most improvement on average over the course of a swim meet.
Watrych swam in four races in Yorkton and had an average improvement of 17.18 seconds. Ella Kozak was runner-up to Watrych. She had an average improvement of 15.82 seconds over her six races. Alex Poncelet had an average improvement of 12.76 seconds to place third in the "Storm Chaser Rankings."
The next meet for the club is coming up in mid-November when they take part in a Regina Swim Meet. Benko says the club is happy to be back competing in Regina. The Lawson Aquatic Centre just recently reopened to swim meets after being closed due to air quality issues.
