AAA Spring Champs Review
Championship Season marches on with the third installment: AAA Spring Championships at Dalhousie University, June 13-15. 27 SWAT swimmers from the Junior and Senior groups made appearances and all to great success. As a club we tallied 99 personal best times, appeared in 73 finals and 5 distance Free timed finals: winning 1635 individual points and 29 medals. 3 Swimmers made their AAA debuts. 1 swimmer reached Canada Games Selection standards and another made their Canada Games Identification standard to be included in the pool of swimmers up for inclusion on Team Nova Scotia this August.
9 Junior swimmers represented the club earning 37 best times and 26 finals lanes. They collectively won 569 individual points and 11 medals. This is the final meet of the year for most of these swimmers with 3 continuing on to East Coast Championships in July. Addison had 5 best times and appeared in 4 finals and the 800 Free timed final. She won 97 points and 2 medals. She won silver in the 200 Breaststroke and cut 6 seconds from her previous record. She took 3 seconds off her 200 Back breaking through 3:00 in the event. She won a bronze medal in the 50 Breaststroke. Nick H had 4 pbs and 1 finals swim for 15 points. He clipped through 2:30 in the 200 Free for the first time LCM after dropping 2 seconds in the event. Sam H was also successful with 5 best times and 1 final for 14 points. He also broke through 2:30 in the 200 Free after an 8 second improvement. He also had a good swim in the 50 Fly trimming 2 seconds in the event. Wyatt made his AAA debut after qualifying the previous weekend at AA Spring Champs. He had 3 best times from the April meet and made finals in all 5 of his events winning 72 points. He swam his 50 Back under 40 after a 2 second drop. He also improved on his LCM 200 Breaststroke by 7 seconds. Maria is in the unique situation that she has more best times than individual events swum with 7 from 6 after opening the 400 Medley relay with a best time in the 100 Back. She was up for points in all 6 of her individual events winning 210 points and 6 medals. She won gold in the 800 Free after blasting 20 seconds off her old time and under the Canada Games Identification time. She also won gold in the 200 Back; silver in the 50 back, 200 IM, and 400 Free; and bronze in the 50 Fly. Marci was also perfect with 6-from-6. He made finals in 2 events and won 22 points. He made an ECC cut in the 50 free. He took full advantage of a fortunate finals scenario that had him take an empty lane as an alternate in the 100 Free and finished with 5 second best time, under 1:10 for the first time LCM. Leonie made her AAA debut after big success at AA Spring Champs. She earned 2 best times and finals in 2 events winning 28 points. She took her 100 Free and 200 Breaststroke times down by 3 seconds each. Ryan, another AAA debutante, earned 2 best times and 1 final worth 11 points. He improved his 50 Fly by 2 seconds and his 200 Free by 5. Alex W had himself a big weekend with 3 best times and 5 finals swims to go with them. He won 100 points and 2 medals for his troubles. He won bronze medals in both the 50 Back and the 100 Free. He had a booming best time in the 200 IM with a 21 second besting of his previous best.
The Senior group was represented by 18 swimmers including 2 University swimmers joining the club for the summer. The group posted 62 personal bests! There were 18 medals and 1066 individual points won from 47 finals swims. Senior swimmers took several different approaches to the meet. Some swimmers were wrapping up their season with the final meet of the Swim NS calendar; hopeful for ECC qualification. East Coast Qualified swimmers were using this meet as a final tune up for Champs in July. Some other were using the meet as their final opportunity to post times to be considered for Canada Games Team Nova Scotia selection. Gabe A took 3 best times away from the meet and appeared in 4 finals for 121 points and 3 medals. Perhaps more importantly, he made Canada Games selection standards in the 50 and 100 Back: wining silver medals in both events. He took the gold in the 200 Back. Jack also had 3 best times and 4 finals. He won 56 points for his finals swims. His best performance was a 6 second improvement in the 200 Free. Elyse had a very good meet finally breaking through with 5 best times. She had a 27 second improvement in the 400 Free, and 2 and 4 second drops in the 100 and 200 Free. Maggie took time off in 4 events including a 3 second PB in the 200 Free. Victoria returned to the pool after a stretch of little training and managed 2 best times and 2 finals swims wining 28 points. Ethan K had 3 official best times and 184 points from 5 events winning 4 medals. He was awarded Hi Point Champ for 15o boys. He added the 50 Back Canada Games Selection time to his resume and won gold in the event. He also won gold medals in the 1500 Free and the 100 Back. He also managed a bronze medal in the 50 Free. Eugene was another big scorer with 2 best times, 5 finals, 154 points and 3 medals. He won gold medals in the 200 IM and the 50 Free. He took silver in the 200 Free. Taite had 5 pbs on the weekend. He scored points in 3 events winning 81 points and 2 medals. He won the gold medal after dropping 39 seconds in the 800 Free. His other big drop was a 5 second improvement for bronze in the 400 Free. Nic also walked away with 5 best times scoring 63 points from 2 finals swims. He won gold in the 200 Fly swimming under 2:20. He also had a strong morning swim in the 100 Fly cutting 2 seconds off his very recent personal best and making his way under the Canada Games Identification standard, improving his chances of being selected to represent the province at the Games in August. Alana had 2 best times in rare 100 Back and 100 Fly events and scored 42 points from 3 events. Ben P took down 3 of his old pbs and appeared in 3 finals lanes scoring 38 points. He took down a chunky 12 seconds in the 200 IM and 2 more in the 50 Fly. Joel was perfect 6-for-6 on the weekend and swam in 2 finals lanes for 24 points. He had 6 and 8 second improvements in the 100 Fly and 100 Free. He also had a 2 second pb in the 100 Back cracking 1:10 in the morning and the afternoon after never being that low before. Haley took home 3 new personal records and won 105 points and 3 medals from 4 finals events. She won gold in the 200 Fly after a 2 second improvement from the swim in Markham in May. She won bronze medals in the 50 Back and 200 Free. Sam S took advantage of the two days he was at the meet. He left with 3 best times and 1 finals appearance for 12 points. He dropped 7 second in the 400 Free and 2 off in the rare 100 Back. Jesstine managed 4 pbs on the weekend and 5 finals for 82 points and 2 medals. She won a silver medal in the 400 IM after taking 7 seconds off in the event and won bronze in the 200 Breaststroke after a big morning swim. University swimmer Emma returns to SWAT and comes up with 5-for-5 best times. She managed to make it into 1 final for 12 points in the midst of her off season training. She improved 9 seconds in her 200 Back and 3 in the 100 Back. She swam under 2:30 for the first time LCM in the 200 Free as well. University free agent Emily joins SWAT for some off season work and popped off 4 LCM pbs and 5 finals for 64 points. She was 6 seconds faster in the 400 Free from the last AAA meet and another 2 in a rare 100 Back.
AAA swimmers are now done and have one more week of training to wrap up their season. Championship Season continues as East Coast qualifiers train into July for East Coast Champs in New Brunswick July 10-14. The Canada Games Team will be officially announced on Monday, June 23. There are several SWAT swimmers anticipating their names called to represent Nova Scotia in Newfoundland in August.