The Yorkton Storm Swim Club (YSSC) sent 15 swimmers to Saskatoon this past weekend where they competed in the Saskatoon Lasers Septathlon event at the Shaw Centre.
This was the first Long Course swim meet of the season. 聽
Head coach Ashley Benko explained that 鈥楲ong Course鈥� means that the races took place in a pool that is 50m long as opposed to 鈥楽hort Course鈥� where the pool is 25m long.
Times are typically a little slower in long course season because there are fewer turns in each race. Swimmers use flip turns in races which allow them to push off the wall of the pool to increase their speed. 聽
While it may have been the first meet of the long course season, it appears the YSSC swimmers have been well prepared. Seven swimmers found their way to the podium at the meet. 聽
A pair of Yorkton swimmers - Matlyn Bulych and Jennifer Haczkewicz - each had five top three finishes at the competition.
Bulych won gold in the 200m and 50m Freestyle events, silver in the 100m Freestyle and a bronze medal in both the 50m and 100m Breaststroke.
Meanwhile Haczkewicz had two second place finishes in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle, along with three third place finishes in the 100m Backstroke, Butterfly and Freestyle events.
Ella Kozak made four trips to the podium finishing second in the 200m Freestyle and adding three bronze medal efforts in the 50m Backstroke along with the 50m and 100m Freestyle races.
Cassidy Flasch had a solid meet recording three second place finishes in the 50m Backstroke and Butterfly along with the 100m Butterfly.
Jacob Baker, along with Auston Roberts and Bryant Jones, each recorded one top three finish at the meet.
Baker finished second in the 50m Breaststroke, while Roberts captured the silver in the 50m Butterfly. Jones finished third in the 100m Freestyle event.
In addition to the twenty top-three finishes at the meet, coach Benko believed there was lots more to celebrate. 鈥淏ryant Jones is training and racing like a young man possessed,鈥� said Benko, adding,鈥渉e is getting stronger and subsequently faster with each competition.
鈥淭his meet was a break-through meet for Jones in that he recorded his first top three finish and more importantly he swam his first AA time.鈥�
Bryant Jones鈥� AA time came in the 100m Freestyle. Ordinarily his time would have qualified him to compete at the Man-Sask AA Championships this July in Winnipeg, joining fellow swimmers; Haczkewicz, Baker and Flasch who have also qualified for the meet. 聽
But due to Jones鈥� birthdate he will have to compete in an older category by the date of the meet which means he will have to qualify as a 14 year old and swim another AA time which is about five seconds faster.
Benko says he is more than capable of doing so and adds that everyone in the club is pulling for him to reach this goal.
New Records
Jennifer Haczkewicz competed in her first long course meet in the 15 and over category and as a result she has re-written the YSSC record book again.
Haczkewicz swam her way to six new club records at the meet, however her coach believes that, while the records are a positive thing, the main goal for Haczkewicz still needs to be achieved. 鈥淲hile the records are nice and clearly show what a special talent she is, that isn鈥檛 the goal we have for the long course season,鈥� said Benko. 鈥淛en is currently one second away from qualifying from the Western Canadian Championships this summer in the 50m Freestyle.鈥�
Western鈥檚 is the next step up the competitive swimming ladder and has a different level of time standards to meet in order to compete.
Alexandra Poncelet also had the swim meet of her life in Saskatoon.
She swam seven different races and took time off in each and every one of them. The amount of time taken off per race ranged from 2.87 to 28.22 seconds.
In the end she took on average 14.80 seconds off per race. That amount of time earned her the club鈥檚 Storm Chaser Award for the Septathlon Swim Meet.聽 Bryant Jones was second and Matlyn Bulych was third.
Coach Benko also said that if the club had a 鈥楽wimmer to Watch鈥� category she would be placing Anna Bulych in that category. 鈥淎nna had a fantastic meet,鈥� offered Benko. 鈥淪he has improved to the point where she is now one second away from the 8U Girls Long Course Record in the 100m Backstroke.鈥漈he record time of 1:46.50, which is held is currently by Gloria Liebrecht, was set in 1985. Bulych swam the race in 1:47.71 in Saskatoon.
The next swim meet is the Michelle Moore Meet in Regina scheduled to take place on May 22-24.
