Nova Scotia Winter Championships
The first meet of Championship season has come and gone. It was a busy weekend with long sessions and long days, but SWAT came out of the weekend with excellent results, averaging over 4 best times per swimmer. The format for this year's Championship was different from years past with both the AA and AAA Championships happening concurrently. Both pools of athletes raced together in the morning and Finals for each group were divided for Finals. As a team SWAT scored 3060 points placing second overall! 47 swimmers earned: 210 best times, 147 appearances in scoring positions (Top 8), and 62 medals. 13 Club records fell. 3 SWAT swimmers earned High Point Awards. 9 swimmers qualified for higher levels of competition. I would also like to make a special thanks to all the relay swimmers that showed up later in the evening to race and bring energy to those relays at the end of the Finals sessions.
The Senior Groups
The members of Senior Provincial, Senior Atlantic, and Senior National really showed up and showed off their training at Champs! 25 swimmers earned 109 best times and 85 Scoring races winning 46 medals. Gabriel A won the 200 Back setting a new club record for both the 15-17 and Open Categories. He had 4 best times on the weekend and won two bronze medals along with the Gold in 200 Back. Dylan also had 4 personal bests and scored in 3 races and dropping over 11 seconds in the 400 Free at the conclusion of the weekend. Eugene scored points in all 6 of his individual swims earning 4 medals and 2 best times. He dropped another 7 seconds in the 800 Free despite a tough training block dealing with illness and surgery recovery. Ethan K also scored points in all 6 of his swims winning medals in 4 of them including Gold in the 100 Back and 800 Free. Ethan was awarded the AAA 15o Male High Point award at the conclusion of the meet. He also set club records in the 15-17 and Open categories in the 800 Free, 50 Back, 100 Back, and 50 Breaststroke.
From Senior Atlantic, Julia scored in 6 of 6 races earning a bronze medal and 6 personal bests. She broke through 5:00 in the 400 Free for the first time with a 15 second improvement. Cohen scored in two events and bettered 4 times. More importantly she qualified for East Coast Champs in both the 50 and 100 free grabbing an invitation to the Champs meet at the end of the month. Jack scrapped his way to a 50 Free PB for the first time in a minute. Maria dealt with some injuries throughout the weekend but scored 100 points and 4 medals from 4 Finals swims and 6 best times (including a relay split). Surprisingly she blasted through 3:00 in the 200 Breaststroke for the first time after a total of 13 seconds removed from her old time. Maria also set new female 13-14 club record in the 50 Back and 50 Free in her first meet as a 13 year old. Alana found herself 3 new PBs and 1 Finals swim. She also crack through 30 seconds in the 50 Free for the first time, then repeated the feat 2 more times throughout the weekend. Ben found some success also dealing with some season long injuries winning 3 new best times and a Finals appearance. This is a welcome outcome after a tough first half of the season.
The Senior Provincial swimmers really popped off with massive gains and rewards for their training. On the AAA side of the meet, Addison Scored in 4 races and PBd in all 6 individual races. She met the 14 year old East Coast Qualifying standards. She had a massive 45 seconds of improvement in the 800 Free and swam under 5:00 int he 400 Free for the first time. Friends Elyse and Maggie earned 3 best times. Elyse showed off her training breaking through 2:30 int he 200 Free. Nick scored in all 6 individual races and with the help of an opening split from a relay walked away with 7 best times. He won 3 Bronze medals and joined the sub 30 club in the 50 Free and the sub 3:00 in the 200 Breaststroke. Gavin was a perfect 6 for 6 in personal bests including an 8 second drop in the 100 Fly. Charlotte earned 5 best times and scored points from one Finals swim. She took a massive 41 seconds off in the 400 Free and was one of several SWAT swimmers to finally crack 30 Seconds int he 50 Free. Marco showed up in the Finals Program in 4 races and was also a perfect 6 for 6 in best times. He had a big 12 second slash of his 200 IM time. He also qualified for 15o East Coast Champs in the 50 Free. Erica R won two medals from two finals and PBd in all 6 of her swims. She took 6 seconds off her 200 Fly setting a new Club Record in the 13-14 Girls category in the event. Ryan Tang had a strong meet with 6 best times and 6 Finals winning 5 medals. He took 19 seconds off his 200 Free time and broke through 1:00 for the first time int he 100 Free. On the AA side, August had 4 Scoring swims and a 5 second improvement and a Bronze medal in the 100 Fly. Sam H made 6 finals and 6 best times from 6 individual events. he won 5 medals and qualified for AAA and East Coast Championships in the 50 Free. Angus also found himself in 6 scoring heats winning 2 medals. Sam S had 5 PBs and 5 scoring swims earning a bronze medal another of the newly minted sub 30 second 50 Free club he qualified for both AAA and East Coast with the swim. He also had a big 24 seconds PB in the 800 Free. Tatum made 5 scoring swims and 6 best times winning 3 medals. Her 100 and 50 Freestyle times were good enough to qualify for East Coast Champs and through a loophole in qualification AAA competition as well. Kaylee was 6 for 6 in all categories: PBs, scoring swims, and medals. She cut 10 seconds from her 200 Back cracking the 3:00 barrier for the first time. Her 50 Free earned her a spot int he AAA ranks. Like Her brother she was also awarded a High Point Award, being the second overall 15o Girl in the AA category.
The Junior Groups
Junior Atlantic and Junior Provincial sent 15 swimmers to Champs. They picked up a total of 74 personal bests. Scored points in 53 events earning 16 medals. On the AAA side, Jae earned 4 new best times including a massive jump all the way into the 28s in the 50 Free and an 8 second PB in the 100 Fly. He completed his East Coast Champs Qualification and will join the group at the end of the month. Also in AAA, Wyatt showed off a new set of skills racing to 5 scoring heats and 6 best times including a 28 second improvement int he 800 Free. The AA Junior Atlantic swimmers also had a good showing starting with Erica B finding 3 best times and 4 Finals. She made a big jump in the 50 Back by dropping 5 seconds in the event. Gabriel C broke out with 6 best times relishing the opportunity to race in a championship environment. He worked his way into 5 finals winning a medal, and an 8 second improvement in the 200 Breaststroke. Madelynn was a perfect 5 from 5 on her load management schedule for best times. She also appeared in finals for each event and won 2 medals. Her biggest improvement came in the 200 Back with an 8 second drop from her previous time. Farrah was a perfect 6 from 6 and scored points in 5 swims winning two medals from swim that she was agonizingly close to AAA qualification including 29 seconds off int he 800 Free. Ethan M solidified his Maine qualifications with a strong 200 Back in the morning; one of his 6 best times. He also scored points in 5 events. Isaiah picked a strategic event list and was rewarded with 5 best times, 6 scoring race, 5 medals and the second overall 13-14 Male High Point for the AA swimmers. From Junior Provincial, Alex B found himself 4 new personal bests and 1 finals appearance. He cut 14 seconds off his 400 Free and joined the group of SWAT swimmers breaking the 30 second mark in the 50 Free for the first time. Patricia was a perfect 6 from 6 and earned finals in the 100 Fly and totaled 10 seconds of improvement int he event. Avery had 3 best times and 1 scoring swim. Kayden was another perfect 6 from 6 swimmers. He scored points in 3 races and won 1 medal. Mylee showed up in 4 Finals heats and had 5 PBs on the weekend including a 7 second best time in the 100 Fly.Camden earn 4 best times and 3 scoring swims. He had matching 8 second improvements in the 100 Free and 100 Back. Matt S found 5 personal bests and 4 scoring swims highlighted by an 8 second improvement in the 200 Breaststroke.
The Novice Group
Our youngest and newest additions to the AA crowd this was their first foray into Championship season and the Novice group performed quite well considering the tough environment. 7 novice swimmers scratched to 27 best times and evening worked their way into 9 scoring heats. Henry bettered 5 old times and scored points in 3 swims. He took off a big 11 seconds in the 50 Free. Alex E in his AA debut walked away with 4 best times and even 1 finals appearance. He had a 2 second improvement int he 200 Free officially swimming under the 3:30 mark and also clawed under 2:00 in the 100 Breaststroke for the first time. Victoria rose to the occasion, being a key member of a couple relay teams and personal success in 3 events. She also swam in her first 200 Back and 200 IM ever. Evan worked hard to 3 best times and then some success by the end of the weekend with 2 scoring swims and a 7 second PB in the 100 Back. Olivia also had a big drop in the 100 Back after dropping over 17 seconds int he event as one of her 4 best times. Xavier popped off with 5 best times 3 finals swims and a huge 16 seconds of improvement in the 100 Fly. Young Natalie, also an integral Relay swimmer earned 3 best times and a massive 20 seconds off in the 100 Back.
Championship Season continues. Team NS Tour Team swimmers travel to Maine for MESI Championships March 12-15. East Coast Championships in Halifax for qualifiers goes March 26-29. Finally, Canadian Open swimmers travel to Edmonton to race the best in the country April 9-11.